A Hero's DNA
by beisenman1892
Summary: On the Day of the Nine Tails sealing something goes horribly wrong, and Minato is forced to seal all of the Nine Tails chakra into Naruto. Naruto survives due to the actions of a certain snake, who then abducts the baby for his experiments. Senju/Uchiha/Uzumaki/Namikaze DNA Naruto. Good Sasuke. No character bashing. Pairings not yet decided.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, or anything associated with the manga, or anime. I only own this story.**

**Hey all, thanks for reading. I just got this idea in my head and I needed to write it so I hope you like it. I will still be working on my X-men story Memories of the Fallen, so don't worry about that. I will also be taking a small break from my other Naruto fan fiction Alone Together so I can get back on track of how I want the story to go. **

**In this story I will try to not let Naruto become completely op right off the bat. All of the power he is gifted will take him a while to learn and master, as it should. But he will be stronger than in the anime. Also, team 7 will still have Sasuke but I want to know who else you think should be in it so let me know in your reviews. Thanks again for reading and if you have any questions, please ask via review, or pm, preferable review though.**

A Hero's DNA.

Prologue

He stood alone atop the carved stone heads of his predecessors looking over the Village he has sworn to protect. Silently he thought about all of the events that had led up to this moment. His victories against the Hidden Rock Village which won the war for the Hidden Leaf, his appointment as Hokage, and even his marriage to the Red Hot Habanero of the Hidden Leaf; all of these paled to the mistakes that led up to what he now faced.

16 years prior,

A twelve year old blonde ran through the trees that lay in the Land of Fire. He followed a squad of Hidden Leaf ninja in looking for their missing jinchuurki. As he ran something caught his eyes and he looked down to find a strand of red hair. He looked forward and saw that the Leaf ninja were already far ahead of him. Looking around he found another strand of the red hair, there were many strands leaving a trail. He knew that he wasn't strong enough to take on full-fledged ninja, but that didn't stop him from wanting to rescue the girl. He decided to rely on his wit and knowledge of the area to defeat the enemy.

He came across a small clearing and found the three man squad of Hidden Cloud ninja and the girl known as Kushina Uzumaki tied up. He took out a kunai and began to quickly and silently lay traps around the camp. Ready for his attack the boy threw a kunai at the first ninja. The man quickly caught it, not seeing the explosive tag wrapped around the handle. The tag detonated killing the ninja. The other two stood ready to defend themselves.

"Who did that?"

"Go and check you idiot."

The second ninja jumped into the trees in the direction the kunai came from. As he landed on the branch her heard a rustling in the leaves behind him.

"Whoever you are you're gonna die for that."

As the ninja drew a katana from his back he failed to notice the ninja wire coming from behind him. He was suddenly wrapped up in wire and explosive tags.

"What the hell?"

The tags exploded killing the second ninja quickly. The blond remained hidden in the trees. He didn't like that he had to kill the two ninja but he had to save Kushina. The third and final ninja stood in shock at the death of his teammates. He didn't notice the blonde jump from behind him and drive the kunai into his back killing him. Kushina was in awe of her savior as he walked over and untied her.

"Are you hurt?"

Kushina remained silent, astounded that someone came to save her.

"I came to rescue you."

He saw her pass out in front of him. He brushed the hair out of her face as she began to awaken.

"You are going to be alright now." He said as he picked her up.

"Wait a second..." She started. She noticed the strands of hair in his grasp. "That's my…"

"I found the trail. You hair is so beautiful so I noticed it right away."

"But you've always ignored me." She said looking away as he carried her through the trees.

"Because I know that you are strong, in body and spirit. But this is a fight between two villages. This is different from your other fights so…"

"So?"

"I didn't want to lose you."

The blonde carried her all the way back to Konoha.

…

6 months prior,

After being rescued Kushina had fallen in love with her savior, and fourteen years later she married the blonde haired boy who saved her. During that time a large war was being fought, and one of the Leaf's most powerful enemies was the Hidden Rock Village. The blonde managed to single handedly defeat the village with the user of his Hiraishin, Thunder god jutsu, and his Rasengan. HE had even managed to become the Hokage of the Hidden Leaf, but nothing could have prepared him for his next great challenge.

"A…a baby?"

"Yeah I'm going to be a mother, ya know."

"And I'm going to be a father!"

He had never been happier in his life. It has always been his dream to have a son to raise and teach to be a strong shinobi, and now he would have that chance.

…

5 months prior,

It was the night of Kushina's baby shower and everyone was there. From her best friend Mikoto, to the Sannin who creeped her out beyond belief Orochimaru. The blonde watched over his wife as she laughed and smiled in anticipation of their son's birth.

"So you have been reading that book haven't you."

The blonde's old teacher Jiraiya walked up to him holding a book in his hands.

"Yeah it is one of my favorite's sensei."

"Really because the sentences are all childish and I haven't had time to edit it yet…"

"But the main character is amazing, in fact I want to raise my son to be just like him."

"If you are sure." The older man laughed.

"I even want to name him after the character, if that is alright with you sensei."

"Naruto? But I just came up with that name while eating ramen."

"Naruto is a great name." Kushina said as she approached.

"Well if I came up with the name, does that mean that I get to be the god father?" Jiraiya asked with a grin.

"Of course sensei, I wouldn't have it any other way."

As Kushina laughed with Mikoto, whom was also pregnant, she began to feel a little weak so she decided to sit down.

"What are you going to name your baby Mikoto?"

"I will name him Sasuke, after the father of the Third Hokage."

"That is a great name. I hope that our sons will be friends."

"Oh me too!"

"Excuse me Kushina."

She turned around to see Orochimaru standing behind her holding a cup in his hands.

"Oh hello Orochimaru. May I help you with something?"

"Yes, I saw that you looked a little pale so I decided to get you something to drink. I just wanted to make sure that you and your child are completely healthy. We wouldn't want that precious child to turn out wrong now would we?"

Kushina took the cup of water from Orochimaru.

"Thank you for your concern. But I am sure that Naruto and I are just fine."

"Very well, have a nice day Kushina."

Orochimaru walked away, turning slightly to watch Kushina drink from the cup he gave her.

"I am positive that your child will be remarkable."

…

Present day,

He stood watching as his village burned, as the people he promised to protect were slaughtered before his eyes. The fourth Hokage Minato Namikaze watched in horror as the Fox laid waste to his home.

He and Kushina had been warned that during childbirth the seal that continued the Nine Tailed Fox would be weakened to the point in which it could escape. To prevent this the Third hokage's wife and another medical ninja went with Kushina and Minato to help deliver the baby away from the village, while Minato would keep the fox sealed.

Everything was going as planned and Naruto was born safely. Minato was about to finish resealing the fox when he heard the sound of a knife cutting through flesh behind him.

"Step away from the jinchuuriki Lord Fourth Hokage."

Minato turned around to see a masked man holding a kunai to Naruto. The bodies of the medical ninja and Hiruzen's wife lay at his feet.

"Who are you and what are you doing with my son?"

"Who I am doesn't matter and I will kill your son unless you move away from Kushina now."

"Minato?" Kushina was afraid for her child.

"Give him to me now."

"Here catch." The man threw Naruto not the sky, and as Minato caught him he noticed the tags stuck to Naruto's blanket.

"Oh no." Minato used his Hiraishin to teleport Naruto and himself away from the cave, and again away from the blanket covered in explosive tags. He set Naruto down into his crib and teleported back to his wife.

The masked man had already unleashed the Nine Tailed Fox from his seal and cast a genjutsu to put the beast under his control. The Fox began to attack Konoha. Minato fought the masked man and placed a contract seal upon him releasing the fox from his control.

"You are strong Fourth Hokage, to land a blow on me and cancel out my jutsu. But I will return to destroy this village, that is, if the fox doesn't do it first." The man disappeared using a strange jutsu that distorted the world around him.

Minato picked Kushina up and teleported her to Naruto's side. HE looked at his wife and child and knew that he had to keep them safe.

"I'm so glad that you are ok Naruto." Kushina weakly said to her son.

Minato grabbed his cloak and teleported to the top of the Hokage monuments. And it is here where he watched his beloved village burn.

Minato watched as the fox opened its mouth and prepared to fire a large black ball of chakra from it.

"No, not that Tailed Beast Bomb!"

As the fox launched his attack at the village Minato used the Hiraishin the teleport in front of the attack and again to send the ball of chakra away from the village causing a large explosion miles away from the village. He then jumped onto the beast head and teleported it away as well.

As the Fox appeared in a large clearing away from the village he went berserk destroying the surrounding forests

"Summoning Jutsu!" Minato yelled out.

A large toad smoking a pipe and wearing a blue jacket appeared next to the nine tailed fox. Minato teleported atop his head.

"Minato what is the meaning of this?"

"I need your help Gamabunta, please."

"Fine then let's send this fox scurrying away."

The toad drew his sword and began to battle with the fox as Minato went to get Kushina and Naruto. He brought his wife and son to the clearing and began to set up a sealing altar. Kushina watched in distress as he place Naruto atop the altar.

"What are you doing?"

"I need to seal the Fox away, and I cannot ask another parent to give up their child to do so."

"So you will subject Naruto to the life of a jinchuurki?" Kushina had tears I her eyes as she envisioned the suffering her son would have to endure.

"I am sorry Kushina but if I don't then the fox will destroy Konoha. It is my responsibility as Hokage to protect the village."

"And it is your responsibility as a father to protect your son!" She yelled back.

"Minato hurry up will you." They both heard Gamabunta shout out.

"Minato there is another way."

"What do you mean Kushina?"

Kushina made a hand sign and golden chains burst from her back and all around her and began to wrap themselves all around the nine tailed fox. She began to cough up blood due to the stress on her body.

"Now when I die I will take the fox with me, the village will be safe and so will our son. My only regret is that I will not be able to see him grown up." She said as she began to cry.

"No Kushina you will get to see him."

"I am already dead Minato. I won't survive this, don't do anything stupid."

"I will use the reaper death seal to seal half of the fox's chakra into myself, then I will seal the rest into Naruto along with your chakra and my own, then when he is older and tries to gain control of the fox's chakra, we will get to see him then."

"Don't leave our son parentless please Minato. Don't do that just so I can see him."

"I'm sorry Kushina, I love you. Sealing Art: Reaper Death Seal!"

The god of death appeared behind Minato and shoved its hand through his stomach. The ethereal hand began to reach toward the Nine Tailed Fox. To Minato's horror, before the hand made its way to the fox another body jumped in the way causing the death god to take its soul instead.

"No, this cant be happening!"

The seal activated pulling the soul from the man and causing the body to vanish from existence.

"A shadow clone, but, who would do this?" Minato cried out as his own soul was taken by the death god.

"Minato!" Kushina yelled out to her husband.

"I don't have much chakra left, I'm sorry Naruto. I'm sorry Kushina. I don't have a choice but to seal the whole fox into Naruto."

"He will die, it's too much chakra."

"I know, but I have to try."

The Nine Tailed Fox knew what was about to happen so to stop itself from being sealed, he thrust his claw towards the baby on the altar. Both Kushina, and Minato got in the way of the claw.

"I guess, that both parents have to die to protect their son." Kushina thought to herself.

"Please forgive me Naruto." Minato said as he cried. "Eight Trigrams Seal!"

The Nine Tails let out a roar as his body began to fade away and his chakra was sealed inside of Naruto. All of Minato's and Kushina's remaining chakra also was sealed into Naruto's stomach.

"Naruto we love you. Please…be...goo ugh." Kushina said as her life passed from her body.

"Please….survive." Minato gasped as the pain of death overtook him as well.

The night grew silent. Naruto no longer cried. His heartbeat slowed until it was almost stopped. But something from within him caused it to strengthen. His pulse quickened and he opened his eyes to the world. A babies wails pierced the silent night sky. His parents had left him alone in the world. Only he wasn't

"Well, look what we have here. Sorry Minato boy, but I couldn't allow you to take away such a powerful gift. All of the chakra of the Nine Tails locked away inside of a baby. It's a good thing my serum worked. Kukuku, now to finish what I started. You will be mine Naruto, and one day so will your body."

Orochimaru of the Sannin picked up the helpless blonde haired, whisker marked baby and disappeared into the night.

…

**Thank you for reading. Please let me know what you think, what you liked, or what you disliked. I'll try to update soon.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, or anything associated with the manga, or anime. I only own this story.**

**Hey all, thanks for reading. I am really happy with the reception that this story has gathered so far. 3 reviews, 13 favorites, 19 followers, and 189 views. Thanks for all of the support, it really means a lot to me.**

**Anarion: Thanks for the review. Shout out for being the first.**

**Wolfmoon30: I'm glad you like it. Naruto will be like most people and have a light side, and a dark side. Being raised by Orochimaru will have caused some trauma to him. But he won't be overtly dark.**

**Guest: I'll try to keep you happy, and update as often as I can.**

**In this chapter we will see how Naruto's disappearance affects the Hidden Leaf. As this is a fan fiction I am hoping that no one will be too upset at the changes that I make to the storyline. This won't follow canon to the letter and some characters will not be the same as they were I the manga, or anime. I hope you enjoy the chapter. Let me know what you think.**

A Hero's DNA.

Chapter 1: Orochimaru discovered. Lord Hiruzen approaches.

6 years later,

Orochimaru sat in his dark study underground and reviewed all of his notes on the data he had gathered over the past six years. He named the boy experiment 583 and he was happily amazed by his findings. The boy's physical conditioning was flawless and his cognitive abilities were off the charts for his age. Orochimaru began to shake with the anticipation of what this boy could do for him.

"Lord Orochimaru?"

"What is it Kabuto?"

Orochimaru had found the silver haired, glasses wearing, child on a mission while working with the leaf elder Danzo, who also controlled a division of anbu known as ROOT. He instantly noticed the child's usefulness so he took him under his wing. In the year Kabuto has been with him, he has make significant progress with 583, much to Orochimaru's pleasure.

"I have just been informed that none of the children you injected with Hashirama Senju's cells survived the process. The experiment was a failure."

"That is disappointing to be sure, but it isn't a complete waste. Perform autopsies on all of them and bring me your findings."

"Yes, Lord Orochimaru, if that is your command."

Kabuto closed the door and went back to the labs. Orochimaru went back to studying 583's progress. It seemed that he had gained his father's innate genius. And of course his mother's large chakra reserves were also passed down. Orochimaru had even succeeded in breaking through the seal and releasing a larger amount of the Kyuubi's chakra into Naruto's system, though the seal repaired itself too quickly for any significant physical change to occur.

"I believe it is time to speak with the boy once again." He said to himself as he left the study in search of his experimental goldmine.

When he reached the boys cell he peered in and saw the child meditating on top of his bed. His skin was an ivory color, and his blonde hair had begun to show reddish streaks as of late.

"Well boy it seems that your Uzumaki blood is gaining dominance. We will have to balance out your body again. We don't want any one part of you taking over now do we?"

"No Lord Orochimaru, we don't" The boy responded.

"And how are you feeling?"

"Same as every day."

"Have been communing with your beast?"

"Kurama isn't a beast Lord Orochimaru." The blonde boy said defensively. He didn't like people seeing the fox in a negative light.

"I almost regret cracking the seal before. If I didn't know any better I would say you are plotting with the demon fox against me."

"I could never do that to you father." The boy said passively. His voice almost void of emotion.

"We shall see." Orochimaru said as he walked away chuckling.

He had a powerful jinchuuriki under his control and with the modifications he made to the boys genetic structure the boy was sure to be unstoppable when he would mature. And then when he was ripe for the picking his body belonged to Orochimaru himself.

…

Hiruzen looked out his window at the village with sadness in his eyes. In three days it would be October 10th. In three days the village would remember the hero of the leaf who died to protect them al from the nine tailed fox. And in three days what should have been the happy birthday of Minato's child Naruto, would instead be remembered as the day the Fourth Hokage, his wife Kushina and their child were killed to defend the village Hidden in the Leaves.

He remembered that day well. Along with an anbu team, he found the cold bodies of Minato, and Kushina near the altar used to seal the Nine Tails. They found the remains of a charred up baby on the altar pedestal and after doing a DNA test, it was confirmed to be the remains of Naruto. Hiruzen and the village mourned the loss of the Fourth and his family.

Tensions had originally rose about how the Nine Tails was released or his seal in the first place. The Uchiha clan were one of the first to be accused of the crime but that accusation was later refuted and the clan was proven innocent of the crime. Hiruzen knew that something had to be done after this so he appointed a member of the Uchiha clan, Michio Uchiha the father of Mikoto Uchiha, to be one of his advisors as well as an elder of the Leaf Village. Doing this allowed the Uchiha to feel more connected to the village and relations had never been better.

Even though the Leaf Village was prospering again, Hiruzen felt like a failure over the death of Naruto. When Minato sealed the Nine Tailed Fox into his son, Hiruzen knew that it was up to him to protect the boy. And he to there too late. And to make matters worse there were rumors that his student Orochimaru had been conducting vile experiments on the children of the Hidden Leaf. Many have gone missing over the past few years, and most of them were shinobi. Hiruzen had squads of anbu out searching for evidence on the matter and he truly wished that they didn't find anything.

"Lord Hokage!"

Hiruzen looked to the door to his office which had been quickly opened. An anbu with a dog mask, and silver hair had barged in.

"What is it anbu?"

"We found something. It is true, about Orochimaru. We found underground tunnels with dead bodies in it. They were all children."

"Where is he?" Hiruzen asked as anger filled his eyes.

"We don't think he is on to us yet, a strike team is waiting on your order."

"Arrest him, I want him alive so that I can make him pay for his crimes. Tell them I will be there shortly."

"Yes sir."

…

"Lord Orochimaru, we need to move at once!" Kabuto informed him as he ran into his study.

"What is it Kabuto?"

"A team of anbu have just infiltrated the tunnels they will be on to us shortly."

Orochimaru grabbed his research files and sealed them into a large scroll. He handed the scroll to Kabuto.

"Take this and leave. I will follow shortly. Go to our 5th laboratory in the Land of Tea. This is all of my most important research. Time is of the essence Kabuto. Don't fail me."

"Yes Lord Orochimaru." Kabuto used the Body Flicker Jutsu to teleport outside of the tunnels and made his quick escape.

"Well I guess it is time to finally leave this forsaken village."

…

Kakashi Hatake, anbu black ops member, ran through the tunnels with the rest of the anbu team. They had located a total of twenty seven bodies of children who had obviously been experimented on. It made him sick to think that a fellow shinobi would do such horrendous things to his own village.

"Dog, there is an open door up ahead."

"Search the room quickly and watch out for traps." Kakashi responded.

The team stormed the room and located several more bodies of recently deceased children. It appeared that they had only perished a few hours ago.

"This is all just so wrong." An anbu wearing a cat mask stated.

"I know what you mean, to do something like this to children, it's against nature." Another anbu responded.

"Wait guys do you hear that?"

"Here what dog."

Kakashi moved over to the pile of bodies on the ground. He gently moved one from the top ad saw a hand moving.

"One of these kids are alive!" He shouted.

The other anbu ran over to help move the dead bodies off of the living child. He had brown hair and a leaf forehead protector on as well as a Chunin vest.

"A child, a Chunin at that age."

"I was one at a younger age." Kakashi said passively.

"Wait, dog, isn't he the one who was thought to have been kidnapped by Hidden Rock ninja on an escort mission?"

"Yes I believe so. Tenzo, I think his name was. Well he needs medical attention now. Cat take him to the hospital."

"But what if you encounter Orochimaru?"

"This child needs our help more."

"Yes sir." Cat grabbed the bow and flickered out of the tunnels.

"When will lord Hokage be here?"

"Soon. Let's move on."

The group came to a point where the tunnel split into three passage ways.

"You two go left, you two go right, and I will take center." Kakashi said to the other four anbu members.

"Will you be ok by yourself?"

"I'll be fine, now go there may yet be other survivors."

Yes sir." The four anbu said simultaneously.

Kakashi quickly ran down the hall until he found himself in a large room filled with what looked like jail cells. They all seemed to be empty. 

"What is this place?"

He looked around the room until a voice shook the silence.

"Hello, who are you?"

Kakashi turned around to see a child no more than six years old sitting in a cell. The child looked somewhat familiar. His skin was ivory white, and he had long spikey blond hair, with red streaks throughout it. His eyes were the weirdest part of him though. One was a cerulean blue hat looked very familiar with the blonde hair. The other was a luminescent green that look natural and pure.

"Who are you?" The boy asked again.

"I'm an anbu of the Hidden Leaf Village."

"You should leave this place, father won't like it that you are here."

"Father."

"Orochimaru. He doesn't like visitors."

"Orochimaru is your father!" Kakashi was bewildered by the statement. Upon further inspection he noticed the shape of the boy's face and the red hair against it. The blue eye was so familiar. "Sensei?"

"Well how good of you to join me here Kakashi Hatake."

Kakashi spun around to see Orochimaru approaching him.

"I never expected you to be the one to find this place, though with who your sensei was, I guess I shouldn't be too surprised now should I."

"Orochimaru you are under arrest for crimes against the Hidden Leaf Village." Kakashi said shaking slightly from the snake's presence.

"Kukuku, oh Kakashi you humor me. Do you really think that you are strong enough to capture me? I am a Sannin after all."

"I will not allow to harm another innocent soul."

"Such conviction. Sarutobi sensei has really pushed through to you hasn't he. No matter I cannot allow you to get your hands on my child now can I."

Orochimaru made several hand signs quickly and slammed his hands on the ground.

"Reverse summoning seal!"

The cage that the blonde haired kid was in began to glow behind Kakashi and suddenly the child vanished from the room

"What did you do with him?"

"Oh I just sent him somewhere a bit further away. Can't have you getting into too much trouble with me now can I."

Kakashi knelt d0own and his right hand began to glow and crackle as the sound a one thousand birds filled the room.

"Oh my, your Chidori, I have heard stories about that jutsu."

"Actually this is my more powerful Lightning Blade, and you are the first to witness it." Kakashi ran towards the Sannin at incredible speed but the snake flashed away and appeared behind the anbu. Orochimaru grabbed Kakashi and threw him against a nearby wall with such force as too indent the ninja into the concrete.

"Poor little Kakashi, first you lose Obito, then you kill Rin, followed by the death of your sensei. And now I get the pleasure of killing you. I will definitely enjoy this."

Orochimaru opened his mouth and a sword came flying from his stomach. As he gripped the blade's hilt the snake laughed maniacally preparing to strike down the Anbu ninja. He raised the sword into the air.

"Goodbye Kakashi."

As he brought the blade down a large black metal pole crashed into him forcing him away from the young anbu.

"Orochimaru, your time is up."

"Why hello there Sarutobi sensei. I'm so glad that you could join me."

"What are you doing Orochimaru? How could you betray me like this?"

"Like how you betrayed me by giving the title of Hokage to Minato Namikaze. Well let's look at how that turned out kukuku. How must it feel Sarutobi sensei to know that you failed so horribly with your students? Even Jiraiya is a shadow of his former self now, ever since his student died."

"I will stop you Orochimaru." The third said.

"No, I will leave this place. But I promise that I will return and when I do, I will burn this whole insufferable village to the ground." Orochimaru said with venom in his voice and a demonic look in his snake like eyes.

"I really have failed you so." Hiruzen said sadly.

"You should be proud Sarutobi sensei. Your student has surpassed his master and will bring this shinobi world to its knees, kukuku. Farewell sensei." Orochimaru seemed to merge with the ground and he was gone.

Hiruzen stood, too shocked to move for the moment. He was snapped from his thoughts by a groaning noise.

"Kakashi!" He ran over to the anbu in the wall. "Are you ok?"

"I will be. Damn that really hurt."

"I will get you some help."

Lord Hokage?"

"Yes."

"Are you sure that Naruto is actually dead?"

"Why would you ask such a thing, of course he is dead. You saw the body and the coroner reports."

"I just saw a child, and I swear he looked like Minato sensei." Kakashi passed out as he finished the sentence leaving Hiruzen in a state of shock. It was impossible. Naruto couldn't be alive. Could he?"

…

The young blonde woke up in the woods. He heard the sound of what seemed like a pig oinking nearby. The last thing he remembered was Orochimaru teleporting him away, but the boy intercepted the chakra flow of the jutsu and caused his body to go to another location.

"I got away. I actually got away."

He heard the same oinking again, so he stood up and followed the noise. As he came to a clearing in the forest Naruto saw two women. One looked to be in her forties and had long blond hair in two ponytails. She wore a white shirt that barely with navy blue pants and a black belt. She also had on a pair a ninja sandals, a green coat and she had a strange purple diamond tattooed on her forehead.

The other girl looked to be a few years older than himself, maybe around Kabuto's age. She wore a fishnet mesh shirt with a large black kimono that came down to her calves, as well as a pair of shinobi sandals. Next to her sat a small pink pig with a red jacket on and beads around its neck.

"Lady Tsunade do we have to keep running away like this? Why don't you just stop with all of the gambling?"

"Shizune, this next stop will be our lucky spot, I just know it. This losing streak is about to be over."

"That's what you said about the last town, and the village before that, and the city before that one." Shizune replied exasperatedly.

"What don't you trust me Shizune?" Tsunade said, feigning hurt.

"Of course I do Lady Tsunade." She replied afraid of offending her teacher.

"Oink." The pig named Ton-Ton squealed knowing how obliviously Shizune just acted.

"Well then, let's get moving." Tsunade started to walk away. As she walked she saw a small blonde boy wearing tattered clothes. He was watching them intently as if he had never seen people like them before.

"Lady Tsunade, what's wrong?" Shizune asked. She turned to look in the same direction and she too noticed the boy.

"Hey kid, are you ok." Shizune yelled out as she ran up to him.

The blonde saw the lady running towards him and he took a defensive pose. HE was afraid that she would hurt him like Orochimaru, and Kabuto did. Tsunade noticed the change in his posture and she started to walk towards the boy as well.

"Are you ok?" Shizune asked him as she stopped a few feet away from him. "Where are your parents?"

"I don't have parents, or at least not one I want to get back to." He answered.

"Are you hurt?"

"He silently shook his head no.

Shizune back away for a moment."

"Yes Lady Tsunade."

Tsunade knelt down next to the scared boy. She did a quick scan over him and noticed how striking his eyes were. She could also feel the chakra radiating off of him.

"Where did you come from?"

"My father's laboratory."

"What is your father's name?"

"Orochimaru."

Tsunade paled at the answer. She also knew that it was impossible as the boy had not resemblance of her former team member.

"Excuse me lady?"

"You can call what do you need?"

"Are you from Konoha? You look familiar."

"Yes I am, who do I look like?"

"You look like Tsunade Senju of the Sannin, and the last known member of the once great Senju clan. But you can't be her because she would be a lot older than you are."

Tsunade couldn't believe that a child so young, would have so much knowledge about her to be able to recognize her on sight. Sure she was famous but he looked like he was five.

"I am her. I use a jutsu to look younger than I actually am."

Suddenly the boy grew a large smile on his face.

"So you can take me to Konoha!"

"Wait what?"

"I read about the Hidden Leaf Village in a book, and I want to go to the place where the Fourth Hokage once lived."

"Why do you want to go there?"

"I want to see the village where he sealed Kurama inside of me."

"Who?"

"Kurama, the Nine-Tailed Fox."

Tsunade's eyes widened significantly. He couldn't be…the hair…and the blue eyes…..it wasn't possible he was dead…

"Naruto?"

…

**Thanks again for checking out the chapter. I am curious as to whether anyone could take a guess as to what Orochimaru did to him based off of the descriptions I gave. I also want to know who you guys think should be the third member of squad 7. Any of the rookie 9 will work. Thanks again to my followers, reviewers, and favorites. **

**Next chapter: Return to Konoha: The Prodigal Son Arrives.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, or anything associated with the manga, or anime. I only own this story.**

**Hey all, thanks for reading. I can't believe how well this story has done after two chapters. You guys rock. 9 reviews, 30 favorites, 42 followers, and 691 views. Thanks for all of the support, it really means a lot to me.**

**Raddaraddaradda2: I'm glad that you find my story so enjoyable, I will do my best to update as regularly as possible. I've done it three times this week, so hopefully I'll be able to keep it up.**

**Guest: I'll try to tell as much as I can as fast as I can.**

**Thunder18: Thanks for the review, I am glad you liked it.**

**Joe: I'll continue to update as frequently as I can.**

**Guest: I'm glad you like it, I'll do my best.**

**Ryanz Sylophan: I didn't think of Yakumo, so thanks for the suggestion. I decided to put her in my new poll. I agree that all three of your suggestions would make great support roles for the team. I think your English was just fine. Better than what I hear on a daily basis where I live.**

**In this chapter we will see how Hiruzen reacts to Naruto's return. You will also find out exactly what Orochimaru did to him, in a broad sense. I will go more in depth throughout the story. As I said before this story deviates from the canon story. This includes the ages of some of the characters. I will start to include ages after each chapter as I find it relevant. I hope you enjoy the chapter. Let me know what you think.**

A Hero's DNA.

Chapter 2: **Return to Konoha: The Prodigal Son Arrives**.

Hiruzen sat at his desk looking over the shinobi mission reports that had come in the past few days. Ever since the discovery of Orochimaru's crimes, and his inevitable defection from the Hidden Leaf, the village had been in a state of shock. Not only had their Sanin hero been kidnapping their shinobi children, he had caused their deaths through gross experimentation. It was a betrayal that no one had seen coming.

He had also been shaken due to Kakashi's alleged identification of a child who may have been The Fourth Hokage's son. But there was no evidence to support the claim, mainly due to the fact that the boy couldn't be located as Orochimaru took him. Hiruzen didn't want to get his hopes up that the boy could be alive. HE didn't think he could bear that grief again.

On a more peculiar note, a message had been sent to him by one of his old students. Tsunade Senju, his prized medical specialist, had sent a note that informed him that she would be in the village on October 10th, which was today. He read the note again to see if he had missed anything.

_Sensei,_

_Sealed in this note are a few samples of blood. I need you to have the village medical staff check it against all known shinobi records. It will probably take two days for their tests to be completed. I ask that all information regarding these samples be kept secret until I arrive. DO NOT READ THE RESULTS SENSEI. I will be arriving in the village on the 10__th__ of October, in three days' time. Tsunade._

She didn't give him any reason as to why she was returning, or why she wanted those blood samples to be checked, not that he needed one, but she had before sworn to never enter Konoha again. She hated the village after the death of her brother Nawaki, and the love of her life Dan. He didn't care why she was coming, he was just happy to see her once more.

"Having fun there sensei?"

Hiruzen quickly turned in his chair to see a tall man with long spiky white hair, wooded sandals, a fishnet mesh shirt, green robe and pants, and red vest, as well as a forehead protector with the kanji for oil on it. He also had red face paint going down his face from his eyes.

"Jiraiya! You're here too?"

"So, you got Tsunade's message as well then. How does it feel to see all three of your students within the same week again sensei?" The man asked with a smile.

"It is great to see you again Jiraiya, it has been far too long."

"Well I've been keeping an eye out, looking around for the past few years."

"Still looking for Minato's son?"

"I refuse to accept that he is dead sensei. I just cannot have failed Minato and Kushina again."

"I know how you feel. I have felt the same way ever since we lost the three of them."

Jiraiya walked around Hiruzen's desk and sat in the chair directly across from his old sensei.

"Do you have any idea what she wanted?"

"Not a clue. I am frankly surprised that she sent a note at all."

"Same here. Tsunade hasn't spoken to me since the last time she caught me peeki….I mean researching for my next book."

"That reminds me, when is the next book going to be out?" Hiruzen asked with a slight blush.

"Hahaha, sensei you old pervert. I will have the next book in the Make Out Series out in stores in a few months."

"Well that's good to hear." He was happy that for even a few seconds he could forget about all of his stress and guilt over Naruto.

"So when should she be here?"

"Anytime now, anytime."

Jiraiya pointed to a sealed file atop his sensei's desk.

"What is that?"

"That is the reason for Tsunade's visit, and it is not to be opened until she arrives.

"Well I hope she gets here fast, those hot springs are calling my name, and so will the lucky ladies inside." The perverted sage said under his breath with a large smile on his face.

…

Tsunade, Shizune, and the blonde boy were walking down the dirt road through the Land of Fire. While the boy was unnaturally quiet for a child of his age, Tsunade was thinking about their conversation the other day after she had met him on that hilltop.

**Flashback:**

"Naruto?" Tsunade asked her voice a mixture of hope, fear, sadness, and shock. She didn't know if it was him, but a part of her wanted it to be him.

"Naruto? Who's Naruto?" The blonde asked. "Do you mean the main character from the famous book by the legendary Jiraiya?" His voice lit up and a smile stretched across his face.

Tsunade was floored by the question and she had only one prayer on her mind at that moment.

"You are far too young to be reading that kind of trash!" 

"Trash?! How could you call The Tales of the Gutsy Ninja trash? It is my most favorite book in the world.

"Oh, that book." Tsunade let her breath catch up to her and she was glad that is wasn't one of his works of pure perversion. She continued to look at the boor with hope. HE was the right age, and that hair, even with the red in it, and that blue eye, made him look exactly like Minato. The shape of his face was definitely that of Kushina even if his skin was Ivory white.

"Are you ok Lady Tsunade?" The boy asked her in concern

"Yeah I'm fine, what is your name?"

"I don't really have one. Orochimaru just called me experiment 583." The boy said with a frown.

"Well what would you like me to call you?"

The boy though hard for a moment, and then his face lit up with a smile.

"Can you call me Naruto, I don't know why you said the name before but I really like it. He was my favorite character from Lord Jiraiya's masterpiece!"

Tsunade and Shizune couldn't help but smile.

"If that is what you want, then we shall call you Naruto." "_I really hope it is you." _

"Naruto how do you know about the Nine-Tailed Fox?" Shizune asked?

"Orochimaru told me all about it, and I talk to him. He is my only friend in the world. Unless, wait, are you my friends now?"

Tsunade smiled sadly. This boy has incredibly intelligent for his age and it was easy to forget exactly hold old he was. But at the end of the day he was still just a little kid.

"Yes Naruto we are your friends now."

…

Afterwards Tsunade had to convince Naruto to allow to take samples of his blood. But she had a really hard time as he was terrified of needles. She figure that is was a natural reflex due to the experimentation Orochimaru put him through. In the end she had to use medical ninjustsu to put him asleep while she collected the blood samples. She sent them to the Third Hokage in hopes of discovering Naruto's true identity.

When Naruto awoke he was initially mad at Tsunade but she explained to him that she just had to make sure that he was ok, and not sick. As his friend she needed to look out for him, and protect him. That seemed to make the boy smile again. He was happy to have friends who cared so much about him.

**Flashback over.**

Tsunade looked on ahead and saw the giant gates of Konoha, you could even see the Hokage's faces carved into the side of the mountain from where she stood.

"Naruto look, we're here."

"We are!" The blond kid grew excited at the prospect of being in Konoha. "I can see faces. Those are the Hokage stone faces right Lady Tsunade?!"

"That's right Naruto."

"Wow, I never thought they would be so massive."

Shizune just giggled at the blondes wonder. She found it incredibly cute. The group of three approached the gates to Konoha and Naruto was getting antsy. He wanted to run up and look at everything. As the young boy ran across the border of the Village someone yelled out to him.

"Hey kid, what do you think you're doing?"

Naruto looked over to see two ninja dressed in the standard Chunin attire sitting at a desk marked welcome station. He ran over to the desk with a smile.

"Naruto what are you doing?" Tsunade walked up behind him with Shizune not far behind.

"Lady Tsunade? You're here, in the Leaf village?" One of the two Chunin said shocked.

"That would be right. This is Shizune, and she is my apprentice, and this little runt here is Naruto. He is also with me."

"Alright, we just need you to sign these forms."

"Can Shizune handle that, IU have a meeting with the Hokage"

"Yes that is no problem."

"Shizune meet me in the Hokage's office."

"Yes Lady Tsunade."

As Tsunade and Naruto began to walk towards the Hokage's building. As they were walking Naruto looked all over at everything that he could see, soaking up as much information that he could gain visually. As they walked a shouting could be heard from ahead of them.

"Come on, brother, lease train with me?"

"Another time Sasuke, we don't have time to train at this second."

"No fair, I'm bored."

Ahead of them a Black haired boy was walking along with a much younger boy who was clearly his brother. As the older of the two looked ahead and saw Tsunade he stopped in his tracks.

"Lady Tsunade, it is a pleasure see you in person."

"Hello there and you are?"

The younger brother ran up before the older one had a chance to respond.

"That is my older brother Itachi Uchiha. He's eleven and he just made anbu."

Tsunade smiled and knelt down, as Itachi rolled his eyes at his brother's antics.

"Oh really, and who are you?"

"I'm Sasuke Uchiha and I'm six. I'm gonna be the next head of the Konoha Police Force."

"Are you really, well Sasuke, you know you shouldn't tell everyone you meet about your brother being in Anbu. It's supposed to be a secret."

Sasuke's face just paled, even more so than the already ivory skinned boy's color was.

"I didn't know that, I'm not in trouble am I?"

"No you're not."

Tsunade felt someone pulling at her pants, she looked down to see Naruto hiding behind her slightly. Sasuke noticed the little boy behind the strange woman.

"Who are you?" The young Uchiha asked somewhat forcibly.

Naruto didn't answer at first, not knowing whether or not he should trust the kid.

"Go on and answer him." Tsunade told him.

Naruto came out from behind her back and stepped towards Sasuke. He held out his hand to the Uchiha.

"I'm Naruto."

"How old are you Naruto?" Sasuke asked excited at the new kid in town.

Naruto's face slightly shifted as he frowned.

"I'm not sure, five or six, I think."

"You don't know how old you are? Are you stupid or something?" Sasuke asked.

"Sasuke, now that isn't nice." Itachi cut in.

"Oh, sorry Naruto." Sasuke said slightly sadden.

"It's ok Sasuke." Tsunade answered back. "I found Naruto by himself in the woods. "We are going to see if we can figure out how old he is right now."

"Can I come with you?" He asked excitedly.

Naruto also looked happy at the prospect of Sasuke coming along.

"Can he?"

"Sorry Naruto, not this time." Tsunade answered.

"Sasuke and I have to be heading home anyway. Maybe we will see you again soon though. Goodbye Lady Tsunade, goodbye Naruto." Itachi said as he grabbed Sasuke's hand.

"Bye Naruto." Sasuke said to his new friend.

"Bye Sasuke." Naruto responded.

Lady Tsunade, what are you doing in the middle of the street?" Shizune said as she ran up and met the two. "I thought that you would have been at the Hokage tower by now."

"We got a little sidetracked meeting a new friend, right Naruto."

"Yup." He answered.

"Well let's get moving, Lord Hokage is probably waiting for us." Shizune advised.

…

Hiruzen and Jiraiya sat in his office discussing many things as they waited for Tsunade. From news that spread throughout the shinobi nations, to Jiraiya's perverted exploits, their topic were never boring. Hiruzen smiled for the first time in a while with his old student.

"So did you ever master your sage mode?"

"Ugh no, I've been too busy for that serious of training."

"Busy with what Jiraiya?"

"You know, my research." The Toad sage said with a creepy grin.

A knocking came from the door.

"Yes?"

"Lord Hokage, you have some visitors."

"Send them in."

"Yes sir."

"Well it is about time." Jiraiya said a little too loudly. "Damn woman is always la..."

"What was that Jiraiya?"

He slowly turned around to see his old teammate glaring at him.

"Tsunade! Hey there, I was just saying how you were always la…lovely. Especially today. You look damn good."

"Good try Jiraiya."

Hiruzen couldn't help but chuckle at his students bickering. _"Just like old times."_ He thought to himself.

"Well Tsunade what did you need to see me about?"

"Hello sensei, do you have the files from the medical teams."

"Yes they are right here." He handed the folder to Tsunade who grabbed it and ripped it open quickly.

"Thank you for not reading it sensei."

"I just did as you asked Tsunade."

As Tsunade read the detailed analysis of Naruto's blood work a slight smile came to her face and she began to cry. But as she read farther the smile slowly turned into a frown, and from a frown to full blown fire in her eyes. Tsunade Senju was pissed and the target of her anger was Orochimaru.

"That snake bastard!"

"What's wrong Tsunade?" Hiruzen and Jiraiya asked at the same time.

Tsunade closed the file as she finished reading it and wiped the tears from her eyes.

"First things first, Shizune please bring him in here."

"Who?" Jiraiya asked.

"Tsunade, who do you have with you?" Hiruzen questioned her.

"Just watch sensei."

Shizune opened the door and slowly brought Naruto into the Hokage's office. Jiraiya's face instantly turned from curiosity to full blown shock. Hiruzen felt tears coming to his eyes. He couldn't believe it.

"Naruto?" They both asked at the same time.

"Hey how did they know my name? I just made it." The blonde asked Tsunade.

"What do you mean you just made it?" Jiraiya asked.

"Ok I need the both of you to stay calm for a moment. I found Naruto here in the woods near the Land of Tea. He had no idea who he was, what his name was, or even how old he was. But he claimed to know who his father was and that he didn't want to go back to him."

"Who did he think was his father?" Hiruzen wanted answers and he wanted them now.

"Orochimaru is my father." Naruto said to the two older shinobi surprise.

"His hair, and eyes. How is this possible?" Hiruzen asked in shock,

"I think he just told us sensei." Jiraiya responded. "Orochimaru."

"Shizune, please take Naruto outside again and have him take a nap. He's probably tired.

"No I'm not." The boy said as he yaIwned and fought to keep his eyes open.

"Come on Naruto, let's let Tsunade and the other grown-ups talk ok."

"Ok." He said as he yawned again.

As the door closed Jiraiya stood up and drew a few seals around the room. HE then activated them turning the office into a secluded location, unable to be penetrated.

"So he has been with Orochimaru this entire time." Hiruzen said to himself. "Then Kakashi did in fact see him in there. Why didn't I believe him?"

"There is no way that you could have known sensei." Jiraiya told the sad old man. "Tsunade, what did he do to Naruto?"

"According to the DNA test I had done, that is most definitely Minato and Kushina's son. There is no mistaking that fact."

"Ok."

"But there was a strange irregularity in his DNA composition. It seems that Orochimaru somehow combined Naruto's DNA with the DNA of others."

"But who? Hiruzen asked.

"Well first off Naruto already had the genetic traits of the Uzumaki clan and of Minato Namikaze. Orochimaru managed to acquire cells from Hashirama Senju, Tobirama Senju and Madara Uchiha as well as Mito Uzumaki. He injected Naruto with their cells and it had drastic effects on Naruto's DNA code. You can see the external effects. His Ivory white skin, a common trait of the Uchiha clan. His Yellow hair has turned red in many places, that is the extra Uzumaki cells at work, and then his green eye seems to have a connection to Senju DNA."

"I can't believe it." Jiraiya was pissed off beyond all measure. "The absolute torture he must have put him through. How did he survive it?"

"The fox." Hiruzen said "Minato sealed the whole fox into him. His regeneration abilities must be extreme."

"But that should have killed him." Jiraiya explained.

"Unless Orochimaru already began his tampering even before he was born." Hiruzen clarified.

"That Snake Bastard!" Tsunade was absolutely livid.

"What about internal changes Tsunade?" Jiraiya asked.

"His physical conditioning is perfect. He is fast and strong for his age. But the truth is, we have no idea how all of this will end up affecting him. WE have never had a situation like this before."

"We will discuss this more later, for now Jiraiya release the seals please."

"You got it sensei."

Jiraiya placed his hand on one of the seals and they all seemed to disappear. As they opened the door they were surprised to see the members of the Hidden Leaf Council standing in the door way.

"Hello Tsunade, how good of you too have come back." A man with bandages around his eye and a missing arm said.

"Danzo, what is the meaning of this?" Hiruzen questioned his old friend.

"We received reports that two of our Sannin had returned and now we find a strange child as well. Hiruzen You have been keeping secrets from us, we have called a village council meeting and we expect you all to be there."

"Michio, Homura, Koharu, you all agree?"

"I'm sorry Hiruzen, but Danzo showed us the files on the boy." Michio said to his old friend

"What, that was not public information!" Tsunade yelled angrily.

"And the public hasn't yet seen it Princess Tsunade, but you had no right keeping that information form the council, so now they have all been informed."

"We will discuss this later Danzo, this isn't over."

"Oh I wouldn't dream of Hit Hiruzen."

…

In the Hospital Tenzo was unconscious and lying down in his bed. Next to him was a small Bonsai tree left by Kakashi. As the teen gently kept a steady breath in his sleep his chakra began to flare. The Bonsai tree began to grow ever so slightly. His eyes opened revealing a forest green glow.

…

Thank you all for reading. I have created a poll for the third team member of squad 7, which you can find on my profile. Everyone gets two votes from the list, and I ask that everyone votes. The poll will be closed on June 13th. Please review, I love hearing from you guys, and it makes me want to update faster. Until next time.

Next Chapter: Naruto's Fate: The Leaf Councils Judgment.

Ages and rank

Naruto: 6 Civilian

Shizune: 15 Chunin

Tsunade: 45 Sanin

Jiraiya: 45 Sanin

Kakashi: 20 Jonin/Anbu Captain

Hiruzen: 62 Kage

Itachi: 11 Jonin/ Anbu

Sasuke: 6 Civilian

Tenzo/Yamato: 13 Chunin


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, or anything associated with the manga, or anime. I only own this story.**

**Hey all, thanks for reading. I can't believe how well this story has done after two chapters. You guys rock. 15 reviews, 40 favorites, 58 followers, and 1,306 views. Thanks for all of the support, it really means a lot to me.**

**FoxDemon1023: No this story will not be a Yaoi. I have no problem at all with that sexual orientation but I don't want to write it so you don't need to worry about it. Thanks for the review and I'm glad that you like the plot.**

**Michu-92: Thanks for the review, glad to her that you like it.**

**Thunder18: Thanks for the review, I am glad you liked it, and I will continue to update as quickly as possible.**

**Guest: Yes I do know that Shizune is the same age as Kakashi in the canon anime, and manga. As I said I my notes, I will be straying from canon, including ages of some characters, and she is one of those characters. Thanks for the review. **

**Joe: I'll continue as quickly as possible, I'm happy you think that it's good. Thanks for the review**

**Guest: I'm happy that you are enjoying the story, I'll update again soon.**

**The poll is doing well, So far there have been 7 voters. Here are the standings so far.**

**Yakumo 4**

**Shikamaru 2**

**Ino 2**

**Sai 2**

**Sakura 1**

**Hinata 1**

**Kiba 1**

**OC 1**

**Choji 0**

**Shino 0**

**Other 0**

**If you don't like who is in the lead then please vote. All voters get 2 choices when they vote. The poll will close June 13****th****. Thank you for participating. **

**In this chapter we will see how the council reacts to Naruto. Danzo will show his motives for calling a meeting, and Narrators fate in the village is decided. As I said before this story deviates from the canon story. Don't expect everything to be the same as in the Anime/manga. If it was there would be point in righting this story. This includes the ages of some of the characters. I will start to include ages after each chapter as I find it relevant. I hope you enjoy the chapter. Let me know what you think.**

A Hero's DNA.

Chapter 2: **Return to Konoha: The Prodigal Son Arrives**.

Danzo sat at the foot of a long table, to his right sat Homura, and Koharu and to his left sat Michio. On Michio's left sat the Shinobi Clan council which was made by the heads of the noble clans of Konoha. They were Chouza Akimichi, Shibi Aburame, Hiashi Hyuga, Tsume Inuzuka, Shikaku Nara, Fugaku, Uchiha, and Inoichi Yamanaka. On Koharu's right sat the Konoha District Council, civilians elected to run each of The Leaf Villages 7 districts. They were Daiki Sato of district 1, Ryota Ito of district 2, Rina Shimizu of district 3, Hiroki Tanaka of district 4, Mibuki Haruno of district 5, Chihiro Ogawa of district 6, and Yusuke Yamada of district 7. All of the council members sat patiently waiting for Hiruzen Sarutobi to enter. They had not had a large meeting of the councils since the death of the Fourth Hokage Minato Namikaze.

Hiruzen walked into the council room along with Jiraiya and Tsunade, as well as four of his anbu operatives who would sit on each corner of the room. He sat down wearing his red and white robes and took off his hat. Tsunade sat on his left while Jiraiya sat on his right.

"So you all wanted a meeting to be held, here I am. As third Hokage of the Hidden Leaf I hereby start the meeting of councils. Who would like to begin?" Danzo stood up much to Hiruzen's dismay. "Ok Danzo you may begin."

"Thank you Lord Hiruzen. We called this meeting to discuss matter of great importance to the entire village. A matter that you, Hiruzen, neglected to inform any of us about. The return of the Nine Tails Jinchuuriki."

"Sorry to interrupt you Danzo but I do believe that the child has a name. It is Naruto Namikaze, as you are all aware."

"Naruto Namikaze is dead, Lord Hokage, he died along side his mother and father. That is what you told us six years ago." The civilian council member Daiki stated.

"Any at that point that is what I believed to be true. I was wrong, and he has indeed been returned to us today. As I have been made aware, you have all been shown his medical report."

"About that, how can you be sure that this is indeed the same boy? According to the report he has the DNA of several powerful clans. Not just the Fourth, and Kushina." Rina jumped in.

"If you knew anything about medical reports than you would know, yes he has cells from other clans infused within him, but his chromosomes, and genetics indicate that he is indeed, Minato, and Kushina's child." Tsunade interjected.

"You are not a member of this council Tsunade, please be silent unless called upon." Koharu angrily exclaimed.

"As the Last of the Senju, one of the two founding clans, and granddaughter of the first Hokage, not to mention the world's premier specialist in medical ninjustsu, and the one who found the boy in the first place, I do believe she is entitled to speak and vote along with these proceedings Koharu." Michio stated to his fellow advisor.

"I agree with Michio." Hiashi Hyuga stated.

"As do I." Shikaku agreed.

"So be it." Homura finished. "Tsunade you may continue."

"Thank you. As I was saying, I have thoroughly studied the files that you were all given and I can give you my professional opinion that Naruto, is in fact, with one hundred percent certainty, the child of Minato and Kushina."

"I can accept that fact Princess Tsunade." Danzo said. "But is it true that Orochimaru is responsible for the boy's current state?"

"Yes Danzo that is true." Hiruzen admitted.

"Then is it possible that Orochimaru created the boy from the DNA of his parents. He doesn't necessarily have to be their actual child that was born on October 10th six years ago."

"May I speak?" Jiraiya asked the council.

"I don't see why not, go ahead Jiraiya." Homura responded.

"If Minato's child had indeed been killed the chakra of the Nine Tailed Fox would have dissipated and reformed in a decade or two. Considering that it would have been impossible to collect all of the chakra and seal it into a new child at that point, I would say that proves that Naruto is in fact the same Naruto born from Kushina." He explained. "Not to mention, I looked at the seal, and no one else, besides Minato, could have created that seal that was used. The masterwork is beyond even my own level."

"Well said Lord Jiraiya." Inoichi said to the Sannin.

"With this information that we have been given, I move that we fix the records of Naruto Namikaze and list him as alive." Tsume Inuzuka spoke up.

"I second that motion." Chouza agreed.

"All in favor?" Hiruzen asked aloud. All of the council leaders in attendance raised their hands in agreement. "Motion has been passed. Now if that is all then I…"

"Not so fast Hiruzen, there are other matters that we must consider." Danzo said aloud.

"What is it now Danzo?"

"I have several questions that have been submitted to me that I would like to ask. The names of the questioners will not be given. First is the Nine-Tailed Fox safely sealed away? We do not want it to escape."

"The answer is yes, the seal is perfect. Naruto's chakra system and the foxes will merge until Naruto has complete control over all of the Foxes chakra. The Fox has no way of taking him over." Jiraiya answered.

"As a well-known seal master I believe that we should listen to Lord Jiraiya." Shibi stated.

"Agreed." Danzo answered. "Second, do you know how the experimentation on the boy will affect him?"

"There is now way to tell at the moment. But negative effects are not likely at this point. He has lived through procedures no one else could have survived. But he could become a powerful asset to the village." Tsunade answered.

"Very good. That brings me to questions three four and five. Where will he live? Who will take care of him? And will he become a shinobi?"

"Is it true that he has Uchiha blood in him?" Fugaku asked.

"Yes." Tsunade answered.

"Then I believe that the Uchiha clan should take him."

"Absolutely not, the Hyuga clan will not allow you to take him, you will just use him for your own power." Hiashi spoke out.

"How dare you accuse me of such a thing?"

"If I may Lord Hokage, the boy also has Senju blood, and Uzumaki blood, am I correct." Shikaku asked.

"Yes, his mother was Kushina Uzumaki, and Orochimaru gave him Senju DNA."

"Then why doesn't Lady Tsunade raise the boy?"

"That is up to her." Hiruzen answered. "Jiraiya has been listed as Naruto's god father as well."

"I believe the best solution would be to leave him in my care Lord Hokage." Danzo announced.

"Absolutely not!" Tsunade shouted back.

"I will raise the boy to be a weapon for our village the likes no one has seen before. Also his blood needs to be researched. If we could give all of our shinobi his potential power, then our village would be unstoppable." The civilian council seemed to agree with the old war hawk.

"Naruto is not a science experiment Danzo nor is he a weapon to be used in such a way. He is the living, breathing, human son of our Fourth Hokage, and will be treated as such!" Tsunade was livid at Danzo's proposal.

"Tsunade, all ninja are weapons for their village." He responded. "I move that Naruto be placed in my care."

"Danzo, do not try this. Not with Minato's child."

"I second that motion Hiruzen." Homura responded.

"Fine." Hiruzen said gritting his teeth. "All in favor." Danzo's hand raised as well as Homura and Koharu's.

Six of the civilian council's hands shot up.

"Mibuki, what are you doing?" Yusuke asked.

"I don't believe that a child who has already lived through six years of hell should live through more."

"All opposed." Everyone else's hands raised into the air. "Motion denied."

"I move that Tsunade Senju should raise the child." Jiraiya spoke out.

"You are not a member of this council Jiraiya." Danzo quickly said.

"Fine then I will make the motion." Michio said.

"Lord Michio?" Fugaku questioned.

"Fugaku, you are a great head of our clan, but what this village needs is balance. The Uchiha cannot take too much power. It is bad for the village as a whole."

Fugaku nodded to his father in law in respect.

"I second the motion." Hiashi Hyuga said aloud earning a few astonished looks.

"All in favor?" All of the shinobi council's hands raised high. Tsunade, Michio, Hiruzen and Mibuki also raised their hands. "Majority rules, motion carried. Tsunade will take care of Naruto."

"Th…thank you sensei." Tsunade said slightly amazed that she now had to care for a child.

"I would like to make a request of you though Tsunade." Hiruzen said.

"What is it sensei."

"Naruto I the son of Minato and Kushina and as such I would like hi to be raised within village walls. I want you to come back for good."

"I'll see how the village acts first sensei."

"Understandable, though I was also hoping that you would open up a medical ninjustsu academy, as you wanted to before. We are no longer in a war so we have the resources to do this. And there is no one better to run such a thing than you. Also you, my student are the last living heir of the Senju clan. If not for your grandfather this village would not exist. Therefore I hereby grant you a seat on the Shinobi Clan council."

"Are you serious sensei?"

"Very serious, the Senju clan more than deserves it. Does any member of the Shinobi Clan Council disagree with this decision?"

They all shook their heads no to answer the Hokage.

"Then it is decided, the Senju clan will have their seat once again.

"I will do it." She said with a large smile.

"I am glad to hear it Tsunade. Welcome back to the village. It has been too long. Dan, Nawaki, and your grandfather would be proud of you."

Danzo was getting angry while watching the scene before him. Hiruzen continued to make the village weak in his eyes.

"I move for a vote of no confidence in Hiruzen Sarutobi as Hokage of our village!"

Everyone's heads turned on that note.

"Excuse me Danzo?"

"Hiruzen you are no longer fit to wear that hat. I will not allow to weaken this village anymore. We should be the most powerful of any nation, but it cannot happen if you are Hokage."

"How dare you?" Hiruzen asked pissed off.

"I second this motion." Yusuke said aloud.

"If that is what you wish then the motion will be voted on. All in favor?"

Danzo raised his hand as did Yusuke, Chihiro, Daiki, and Hiroki. But they were alone in that regard.

"What is this?!" Danzo yelled.

"Danzo, Hiruzen has led this village well for many years, and while he may make decisions that we do not agree with some times we would never want him to step down unless there was a truly viable candidate." Homura said to him.

"And you are most certainly not it." Koharu agreed.

"Danzo your motion is denied. How has it come to this my friend?"

"You are a weak old fool Hiruzen. This village has the potential to be unstoppable. The will of fire is lost to you."

"The will of fire lives in all of us so long as we are prepared to lay down our lives for the safety of others. You Danzo have betrayed me greatly on this day. You call a meeting behind my back, try to steal power for your own benefits and goals, and attempted to overthrow me out of this position. I think that you have forgotten something my friend. This is not a democracy. This is a dictatorship and I have the last say as to what happens within these walls. This council was created for the purpose of distributing power and helping the Hokage run the village, not to run the village themselves. I am sorry my friend but I hereby remove you from your position as advisor to the Hokage. I remove all rank and association to the shinobi of this village. You will live your days as a civilian, and if I find out that you have taken any action against this villages safety or order, then you will face the consequences of those actions. And they will be severe let me promise you that my old friend."

"You can't do that Hiruzen. You need the council's approval."

"NO my friend, I do not. Anbu remove Danzo from this room please."

"Damn you Hiruzen!" Danzo said as an anbu used the body flicker technique to teleport him from the room.

"Now is there anything else?"

"Hiruzen, who will take Danzo's place? Koharu asked.

"Jiraiya I would be honored if you would do this."

"Sensei I cannot stay in the village."

"I understand but I still want you as my advisor."

"If that is your wish then yes, when I am in the village I will be one of your advisors."

"Then I declare this meeting over."

Everyone stood to leave the room. Many of the civilian council members were highly upset at the outcomes of the meeting.

"Congratulations Tsunade." Jiraiya said as they left the room.

"Lady Tsunade!" Shizune ran up to her with Naruto following. "What happened?"

Tsunade bent down to speak with Naruto.

"Naruto, do you want to stay in the village?"

"Yes, I do."

"Then you will stay."

The blonde suddenly looked scared.

"But who will I stay with, what if Orochimaru comes for me?"

"Naruto you will be staying with me. And I will not let that snake lay a finger on you."

"Lady Tsunade are you serious, we are staying in Konoha." Shizune asked with a wide smile upon her face.

"Yes Shizune we are staying."

"Tsunade, if I'm staying with you, does that make you my mom?"

Tsunade started to tear up at the idea of being a mother. She had thought that with Dan dead her time for that would never come.

"Yes Naruto I will be your mom."

Naruto hugged on to Tsunade as tightly as possible as he began to cry. He had never been this happy before, and for the first time in his life he felt like he had a family. But then a thought came to his mind, a thought of an old friend that he missed.

"Mom, so you found me when I got away from Orochimaru right."

"Yes, why Naruto?"

"Did you find any of the other kids he had?"

"No I didn't, sensei?"

"Naruto, when we raided Orochimaru's underground labs all of the kids we found were dead. Well except one but he was in a severe coma."

"Was it my brother?" Naruto asked with hope in his eyes.

"Your brother?"

"Lord Hokage!" A nurse came running down the hall way. "Lord Hokage you need to come quickly."

"What is it?"

"You just need to see this."

"Tsunade please we might need your medical expertise at the hospital." Hiruzen said to his student.

Tsunade picked up Naruto as she and ran with the Hokage to the hospital. Thy heard aloud crash as they approached the building and saw a tree burst through the wall.

"What in Kami's name is that?" Tsunade asked.

"Let's hurry."

As they entered the hospital another nurse came up to them.

"Sir, it's that boy that your anbu brought in. He awoke from his coma and he just freaked out."

"What room?"

"Second floor room 221."

"Tsunade lets go."

They ran up the staircase and came up to his room. As they looked through the door they couldn't believe what they were seeing. Tree branches and leaves began to elongate and twist all around the room as the teen cried out on his bed in fear. They could see his chakra becoming visible as the tree on his nigh stand reacted.

"This is impossible. I've never seen something like this since…" Hiruzen couldn't finish his sentence.

"Grandfather!" Tsunade said to herself in shock at the power of wood release she was witnessing.

Naruto jumped out of her arms and ran to the teen on the bed. He jumped up next to the boy and threw his arms around him.

"Brother, stop it. Don't be scared. Please."

"Bother" both Hiruzen and Tsunade thought at the same time.

The teen opened his eyes and looked at Naruto and his chakra stopped flaring. The tree began to slowly shrink away and went back to its normal size. A large gaping hole remained I the side of the Hospital wall. Tsunade took a good look at the boy on the bed. He had short spiky brown hair and large eyes. But the thing was that they had a strange green glow to them, until the tree went back to normal then they were black as black could be.

"583, I that you?"

"Yeah, it's me brother, don't be afraid anymore, I don't like it."

"I'm sorry little brother."

"Excuse me Naruto ho is this? I didn't know that you had a brother." Tsunade said to the blonde.

"This is experiment 575. He looked out for me when Orochimaru had us, but now we are both free."

Tsunade approached the boy.

"Do you know who you are or what has been done to you?"

"I don't…I don't remember my real name. It's been so long. But I do know that Lord Orochimaru said he was trying to inject Hashirama Senju's cells into our bodies. Everyone else died though. I'm so glad that 583 here Is safe though."

"My name is Naruto now brother." Naruto said.

"Tsunade this boy's name is Tenzo. He went missing when he was eight, five years ago. He was a Chunin at seven which is probably why Orochimaru wanted him.

"Who were his parents?"

"He was an orphan before that."

Tsunade walked to the bed. Naruto still hugging his brother looked over to her.

"Can he live with us please? I don't want to lose him again."

"Of course he can, that is if he wants too."

"Yes, I don't want to leave my brother alone."

"Ok then Tenzo, you will live with me and Naruto."

Naruto ran up and hugged Tsunade tight. "Thanks mom."

Tsunade started to cry as she heard Naruto call her mom.

"Excuse me, you called me Tenzo?"

"Yes that was your name before Orochimaru took you." Tsunade explained

"And I didn't have a family before that?" he asked her.

"No I' afraid not."

"Then I want to change my name."

"What would you like to be called?" Tsunade asked him.

He thought for a few minutes and then looked up to her. "Then my name will be Yamato, for that is what I will strive for, Harmony."

"Sensei, I would like to adopt both Naruto and Yamato."

Hiruzen smiled at his student.

"So be it Tsunade. Your compound is still available if you would like to move in."

"Thank you sensei. Come on you too, it's time to be a family."

Naruto looked to Tsunade and Yamato and smiled._ "Family huh, that sounds great!" _he thought to himself.

"_**Congratulations, Naruto."**_ A voice rang inside his head.

…

Thank you all for reading. Please continue voting on the poll. I was happy with the results so far but I want to know everyone's opinions on the matter. Please review, I love hearing from you guys, and it makes me want to update faster. Until next time.

Next Chapter: Senju or Namikaze: Naruto's choice.


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, or anything associated with the manga, or anime. I only own this story.**

**Hey all, thanks for reading. I can't believe how well this story has done after two chapters. I was absolutely ecstatic about the amount of reviews I got for last chapter. 12 of them! You guys are awesome. Sorry for the delay in updating. I had a 48 hour shift between my two jobs and I was just dead afterwards, but I fell a whole lot better now so here you go. 27 reviews, 59 favorites, 83 followers, and 2,530 views. Thanks for all of the support, it really means a lot to me.**

**FoxDemon1023: I have not yet decide if I will give Naruto Wood release jutsu or not but it is a possibly. I wanted to see the reader's opinions first.**

**Ddragon21: Orochimaru may or may not have sealed some of his own chakra into Naruto, but he doesn't have his DNA. Thanks for the votes I'll add them in.**

**Fallentcr: Thanks for the votes I will add them in.**

**Tsukoblue: I am glad that you like the story, sorry for the late update.**

**Anarion87: Thanks for the review.**

**Joe: I will try to keep up the good work.**

**Michu-92: Thank you, I hope you like what I do with the story.**

**JGWO: Thanks for the reviews, I'll do my best.**

**Analovesyaoi4ever****: Thanks for the review. I'm sorry but I don't write yaoi pairings. I hope you still keep reading though.**

**Ryanz Sylophan: Thanks for the vote I will add them in.**

**The poll is doing well, So far there have been 23 voters. Here are the standings so far.**

**Yakumo 10**

**Shikamaru 7**

**Hinata 6**

**Sai 6**

**Sakura 4**

**OC 4**

**Ino 3**

**Shino 2**

**Kiba 1**

**Choji 0**

**Other 0**

**If you don't like who is in the lead then please vote. All voters get 2 choices when they vote. The poll will close June 13****th****. Thank you for participating. **

**In this chapter we will see Naruto and Tsunade as they discuss Naruto's past and his lineage. How will Naruto react to the truth about his parents? And how will Tsunade handle her new position as a mother. I hope that you enjoy the chapter, let me know what you think. Please review.**

A Hero's DNA

Chapter 4: Senju or Namikaze: Naruto's choice.

Naruto, Tsunade, Yamato and Shizune walked out of the Hokage's tower. Tsunade had just signed the papers to adopt Yamato, and Naruto as her children. Tsunade, after having noticed Naruto, and Yamato's lack of decent clothing, decided that the first thing they needed to do was get some good cloths for her new sons. Tsunade led the group to a nearby store and walked up to the counter.

"Hello there how can I help yo…you….your Tsunade Senju!" the store clerk said as

"Yes I am."

"Oh kami, the great Lady Tsunade in my store! How may I help you today?"

"Well first off it's just Tsunade if you please, and second I need some new cloths for my two sons here."

"I didn't know you had children." The store clear said surprised.

"I just adopted them. So can you help me?"

"Of course right this way!"

Naruto was led to the children's section of the store and he looked all over for something that he liked. The clerk showed him many different styles of clothing that ere colored blue, red, yellow, and even black. But none of it appealed to Naruto. He then saw a shirt that he really liked.

"What about this mom?" he asked.

The shirt was a simple t shirt colored in a dark burned orange.

"Are you sure about that color Naruto?" Tsunade asked.

"Yes, I know it isn't a very shinobi like color but for some reason I just feel drawn to it."

"Ok Naruto."

Tsunade helped Naruto find the rest of his cloths and his current shirt got caught on a bar from a cloths rack and it tore a bit. She saw a strange white mark on his shoulder so when he went to the dressing room she had him take his shirt off. He had a strange series of scars that marked his skin from his upper left pectoral muscle, over his left shoulder and down his arm to his elbow. She could only think that whatever Orochimaru did to him, had forever scarred her son.

In the end Naruto had picked out a pair of black pants and black sandals, his dark orange shirt and a white hoodie that he left unzipped. Yamato chose to wear a pair of black pants, a dark green shirt and a brown vest overtop of it. He had been asked by the Third Hokage if he would like to rejoin the shinobi force, and he agreed. So he would be jumping back into his training as soon as he could. Hiruzen told him that he should expect a set of Chunin shinobi cloths within the next few days.

Tsunade paid for the clothes and then ordered several more sets of each to be made. She then bent down to Naruto's level.

"Are you ready to go home now Naruto?"

"Yes mom."

"Good, then when we get there we have a few things we need to talk about."

"Is it about what Orochimaru did to me?"

Tsunade had to smile at the statement. She was always amazed at the maturity Naruto was able to exhibit, but she also hoped he would lose a little of it and enjoy the rest of his childhood.

"Yes it is Naruto, among other things."

"Ok mom let's get home then. The little blonde said with a smile.

"Shizune."

"Yes Lady Tsunade?"

"You can stop calling me that now Shizune, your more like a daughter to me than an assistant you know."

"Sorry Tsunade, what did you need?"

"Take this list and get the things on it. Feel free to use my savings, you know all of the information on them anyways."

"What is this for Tsunade?"

"Today is a very important day Shizune. Have it all ready by seven. That gives you about three and a half hours."

"Ok I'll get it done."

I'll help her out if you want." Yamato said to Tsunade."

"Thank you Yamato but it's for you too."

Yamato stepped towards Shizune and smiled at his new mom.

"I know exactly what is going on, and I want to help."

Tsunade smiled and nodded to her new son. He and Shizune walked off in the opposite direction.

"Now let's go home Naruto."

…

Shizune and Yamato stopped by the several shops to get everything on Tsunade's list. With an hour and a half left the two were heading away from the Uchiha compound back to the Senju compound.

"So how long have you known Naruto for?" Shizune asked Yamato.

"A little over two years. I found him crying one day in his cell during a prisoner exchange. I had just been moved to that hideout and I was surprised to see a three year old."

"Has he always been so, old for his age?"

"A lot of that comes from the way he was raised. It's sad really. But I can tell that he is already happier with you and Tsunade."

"I'm glad that we found him. He really has changed her so quickly. I almost can't believe it."

"That's my little brother for you. Orochimaru, and Kabuto were the only ones who seemed to be unaffected by his presence."

"Kabuto?"

"Kabuto is Orochimaru's assistant. I don't know his last name but he is an extraordinary medical ninja. Especially for his age."

"How old is he?"

"A year younger than me, so twelve."

"Well I'm glad that Naruto had you at least."

The two continued their walk towards the Senju Compound in silence. Shizune could tell that living with Yamato would be interesting. Especially with his wood release abilities.

…

Tsunade and Naruto entered the old dusty house. It had not been kept up on since no one had lived there for several years. But it seemed that her old sensei had decided to assist them with the cleaning as a few minutes later there was a knocking at the door.

"Hello?"

"Hello lady Tsunade. We received a d ranked mission to help get your estate cleaned up." There were two Genin teams outside her door and she smirked evilly.

"Well thanks for coming, I hope your Genin are fit for the job."

Tsunade worked the Genin teams to the bone and within two hours she knew the place would be clean enough for her plans.

"Naruto would you follow me?"

"Yes mom."

Tsunade led her son up to a room with a bed. The room was blank as it had not been used in many years but Tsunade knew that this was once her brother Nawaki's room. It had been used in many years and after seeing how barren it was Tsunade shed a tear.

"Mom are you ok?"

"Yes I'm fine Naruto. This will be your bedroom. Tomorrow we can go and get you proper furniture for your room."

"We don't need to mom, this is already better than my cell that Orochimaru kept me in." He said with a big smile on his face. Tsunade had to hold in her anger at her old teammate.

"Naruto you don't live with him anymore and I am going to give you everything that you deserve to have. And that includes a proper bedroom."

Naruto hugged Tsunade's legs. He truly felt like this could be his home now.

"We have some things to discuss Naruto."

Naruto sat down on his bed and Tsunade followed. She laced her hand on his shoulder and pulled him closer to her.

"Naruto you said before that you knew that the Nine Tailed Fox was inside of you?"

"Kurama yeah, I talk to him sometimes. He is real big but not that scary."

"You talk to him?"

"Yeah."

Tsunade was intrigued by that but felt that she should continue.

"Do you know how he got there?"

"Orochimaru told me that the Fourth Hokage sealed him inside of me, to punish me. But I don't think Kurama is a punishment"

"Naruto do you know who your parents are?"

"My birth parents?"

"Yes." She answered

Naruto looked to the floor. Tsunade could tell that it was a sore subject for him.

"Orochimaru said that they abandoned me, that they didn't love me which is why he adopted me as his own. But Kurama said they were dead and that he kidnapped me. I asked him if he knew who they were but he said it wasn't time for him to tell me."

"Naruto, normally we wouldn't have told you about this because of the backlash you might face, but the village thought that you were dead. Because of that your existence was made public and now that you are back there isn't any point in keeping the truth from you."

"So you would have lied to me?" He asked curiously.

"I'm afraid so. Not realty a lie, but we wouldn't have told you the real story."

Naruto smiled up at his mom which she found strange.

"Its ok mom, I know you would have just been trying to protect me."

"Do you want to know who your real parents were Naruto?"

"As long as you are ok with telling me mom." Tsunade could tell that inside he was begging to find out, but he didn't want to make it seem so.

"Of course I will Naruto. Your mother was named Kushina Uzumaki, and she was a powerful ninja. They called her the Red Hot Habanero because of her temper, and power. She was a fiery spirit all right."

"Did you know her well?" Naruto asked.

"Not as well as I would have hoped but she was a friend of mine. She was also the previous holder of the Nine Tailed Fox."

"Kurama was inside of her too?!" He asked clearly shocked at the statement.

"He never told you?" Naruto shook his head sadly. "He must have wanted to wait till he was ready to tell you."

"Who was my father?

Tsunade looked out of the window nearby and she could see the Hokage Monument.

"His name was Minato Namikaze, also known as Konoha's Yellow Flash."

She looked into Naruto's eyes and she could see him calculating something in his head.

"The Yellow Flash, but that's…I mean that would make him…."

"The Fourth Hokage." She answered for him.

Naruto realized that it meant that his father sealed Kurama into him. But if Kurama was in his mother, then why did he seal it into his son?

"Are you ok Naruto?"

"Yes, but I'm confused." He answered he asked her about the sealing.

"Six years ago on October 10th, The Nine Tailed Fox broke free of your mothers seal. We don't know how it happened, or why but we do know that he attacked the leaf village afterwards. A tailed beast cannot be killed, it will just be reborn in a decade or two and it will be much more dangerous. In the end your father had to seal the fox into a newborn child whose chakra coils could handle the immense chakra. He chose his newborn son, you Naruto, to protect the village from the Fox."

"But then…today is October 10th…so does that mean?"

"Today is your sixth birthday Naruto." As she said this she saw tears in his eyes. "What's wrong?"

"I never knew what my birthday was. Orochimaru always said that I wasn't worthy of having one."

"Well from now on you are more that worthy of the life that you deserve Naruto. I need to ask you one more thing."

"What is it mom?" He asked smiling up at her.

"You have a choice that you can make. You were born Naruto Namikaze. Had Orochimaru not taken you, you would have been raised as Naruto Uzumaki. But I adopted you so if you want you can be Naruto Senju. The choice is completely up to you, which last name you take."

Naruto sat in silence for a moment. He wanted to honor his parents but he also didn't want to hurt his new mom. In the end he smiled up at her.

"Can I be Naruto Senju-Namikaze? That way I can honor my lineage and you mom."

Tsunade pulled her son into a hug.

"If that is what you want Naruto then yes." She knew that downstairs Shizune would be ready for Naruto so she pulled back. "Is there anything else that you want to talk about? If not we have something for you downstairs."

"Can I be alone for a moment mom? I need to do something real quick, then I will be down soon."

"Sure Naruto, take as much time as you need."

As she turned to leave and closed the door Naruto got off of the bed and sat on the ground beneath the window. He crossed his legs and began to meditate as the world around him went dark. He opened his eyes to see the familiar sewer around him, and walked towards his companion's cage. He found the large room with the bars towering in front of him. Red eyes looked back at him, though they were also kind.

"**So you have come to speak to me again. I was afraid that you wouldn't need to anymore."**

"Kurama I will always talk to you, but I have a few questions for you now."

'**And what do you require of me Naruto?"** The blond sat down in front of the cage.

"Was my mom your container before me?"\

"**So Tsunade told you the truth then?"**

"Yes, so is it true?"

"**Kushina Uzumaki was indeed my jailer before you."**

"And you escaped on the day of my birth?"

"**A female jinchuurki is most vulnerable when giving birth. I wasn't going to leave until an Uchiha used his sharingan to pull me from your mothers seal. He casts a jutsu on me that put me under his control and forced me to attack the village."**

Naruto let all of the information soak into his brain before he continued.

"So you didn't want to attack Konoha?"

"**No I didn't. Unlike popular belief, we tailed beasts are not mindless heartless drones who thrive in destruction."**

Naruto smiled at Kurama's sarcasm.

"So do you know how my parents died?"

"**I will tell you Naruto, out of my respect for you, but you will hate me when I am done."**

"I could never hate you Kurama."

"**We shall see." The fox lay on the ground of his cage before he began. "Your father successfully stopped my attack on Konoha and destroyed the Uchiha's control over me. I was afraid and I a rage afterwards and I saw your father attempting to seal me. I don't know what I was thinking but I tried to stab you with my claws, and they got in the way to save you. Your parents died trying to keep you safe because they loved you. And I killed them because I was afraid and wanted to stay free for my prison. I can never take back what I did but I do regret the pain it has caused you."**

Naruto felt tears in his eyes. His parents had loved him so much that they died to protect him. And Kurama was the one responsible. He should have been furious. Naruto stood up and walked to the open bars and saw the Tears Kurama tried to hide. He reached his hand inside the bars and placed his palm upon Kurama's snout.

"Kurama, I am angry that they are dead by your hands, but I do not hate you. I understand the feeling of wanting to be free from a cell, and I have only been in one for six years. How long must you have been trapped. I forgive you Kurama, and I am sure that my parents would too."

Kurama was floored by Naruto's compassion and he made a silent vow to forever do everything within his power to keep the blonde safe from harm.

"**Thank you Naruto."**

"I will be back later but I need to go see what my mom needed ok."

"**I will be here kit."**

Naruto smiled at the nickname as he knew what it meant. He closed his eyes, and when they opened he was back in his room. He stood up and wiped the tears in his eyes away. He opened his door and walked down the stairs, but when he got there he was surprised by what he saw.

Tsunade, Shizune, Yamato, Jiraiya, and the Third Hokage were waiting for him and there were colorful boxes wrapped in paper and bows on a table nearby. There was also a large orange cake on the table and a banner that hung above.

"Happy birthday Naruto." Tsunade son and she saw a bigger smile on his face than she would have ever thought possible."

"Wh…what is all this?" He asked.

"We decided that you should have a small party to celebrate your birthday, as well as your return to Konoha." Jiraiya said to the blonde.

"But why would you do all this for me?"

Tsunade walked over to him and knelt down.

"Naruto everyone here loves you and wanted to make this day special for you."

"But you adopted me mom, nothing could be more special than that." He said to her.

Tsunade pulled him into a hug and realize for the first time in her life what she truly should have wanted out of life. She spent so much time trying to fill the emptiness within her by gambling and drinking away the pain. But this boy made all of that unnecessary.

"Are you ok mom, you're kind of crushing me?"

"I'm just happy to have you for a son, now come on over and open up your presents."

Naruto began to open up the boxes on the table. Jiraiya had given him a large plush toad that he could easily sit on top of. Hiruzen gave him a picture of his parents while Kushina was pregnant with him. And the rest of the presents were various toys and clothes as well as a book on basic Shinobi concepts.

"Mom what is this book for?"

"Do you want to be a ninja Naruto, like your parents before you?"

"Being a ninja would mean that I could protect you right mom."

"Well yes Naruto, but your mom isn't exactly the one to nee protecting."

Naruto smiled at her and said "I will be the greatest ninja ever and one day I will be the Hokage of this village just like my dad was. That way I can protect all of you. I finally have a family and I won't let anyone take that away from me."

"That sounds like a great dream kid." Jiraiya said to him.

As they ate cake and talked amongst themselves a knocking came from the front door and Naruto ran over to it. He opened the door to see a couple of familiar faces as well as a couple unfamiliar ones.

"Hi Sasuke, Hi Itachi, who is that with you?"

The brothers looked to their parents.

"Hello Naruto, I am Fugaku, and this is my Wife Mikoto. We are Sasuke and Itachi's parents and we were also friends of your parents."

Naruto just smiled as Tsunade walked over to the door.

"Naruto let them inside."

"Oh sorry mom, you guys come in and have some cake. It's my birthday today."

"We know that Naruto that's why we came." Sasuke said as he rolled his eyes.

"Sasuke don't be rude." Itachi said as he bumped him in the head with two fingers.

"Sorry, we brought you this." Sasuke handed Naruto a box as he walked into the house with his family.

"Sorry we're late Lady Tsunade." Mikoto said.

"Don't worry about it and please just call me Tsunade."

"We were happy to receive the invitation, especially after the rocky start today with the council.

"I figured Naruto could use a friend his own age, and who better than the son of his parent's friend's right."

"Mom look" Naruto had opened his present and inside was a child set of ninja gear.

"Good now you can train and become a strong ninja Naruto"

"You bet, I'll be the strongest. Tsunade loved seeing him act more like the child he really was. She hoped it would stick around.

"Yeah but you won't be stronger than me, I'm an Uchiha."

"I am a Senju-Namikaze."

The two boys looked at each other with similar grins. They knew that they had found both a friend and a rival in the other. Everyone else just shook their heads.

"_This is the best day ever." Naruto thought to himself._

…

**Thank you all for reading. Please continue voting on the poll. I was happy with the results so far but I want to know everyone's opinions on the matter. I have decided to extend the deadline of the poll until June 15****th**** because of my late updating. Please review, I love hearing from you guys, and it makes me want to update faster. Until next time.**

**Next Chapter: Sasuke and Naruto: New friends to meet.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, or anything associated with the manga, or anime. I only own this story.**

**Hey all, thanks for reading. I can't believe how well this story has done after 5 chapters. Thanks for the support on the last chapter, you g s are awesome. Yay a quick update. 34 reviews, 64 favorites, 93 followers, and 3,478 views. Thanks for all of the support, it really means a lot to me.**

**Xinweng95: I understand what you mean, but instead of having a character who is a fan girl that does nothing for the improvement of a story, I'm going to have her be someone who can actually do something. I prefer to change and build a character up, then to bash them down.**

**Tsukoblue: I have a plan for the Uchiha Massacre, it will definitely be different than what happened in cannon.**

**Michu-92: There will be pairings later on, but it won't be the main plot of the story. The pairings will not be NaruSasu or any other yaoi.**

**Kasuma111: Thanks for your vote, I will add it in.**

**Jhonie: I am definitely considering it. It would raise to relationship between him and Yamato.**

**Thunder18: Thanks for the review, I'll continue to update as quickly as I can.**

**Philipindustry: Yamato will be used more, especially I upcoming chapters. I will do my best to build his character better as time goes on. He might fade in and out as the story goes on, but he will always be there.**

**The poll is doing well, So far there have been 30 voters. Here are the standings so far.**

**Yakumo 11**

**Shikamaru 11**

**Hinata 9**

**Sai 7**

**Ino 5**

**Shino 5**

**Sakura4**

**OC 4**

**Kiba 1**

**Choji 0**

**Other 0**

**If you don't like who is in the lead then please vote. All voters get 2 choices when they vote. The poll will close June 15****th****. Thank you for participating. **

**In this chapter we will see Naruto and Yamato as they each face a new challenges. Yamato is about to take his first mission on his new Anbu team, who are they, and how will he do. Naruto meets some new friends. How will we deal with the different people around him? I hope you like it. Please review.**

A Hero's DNA

Chapter 5: A test of courage: Naruto's peers, and Yamato's fears.

Yamato was sitting alone in the middle of the forest meditating. It had been one month since his reintroduction into Konoha, and already rumors of his abilities were spread throughout the village. Tsunade had watched over him as he tried to rediscover his ninja abilities, and they all came back rather naturally for him, as if he had never forgotten them, or even stopped being a ninja. Most surprising was his subsequent control over the Wood release jutsu.

As he meditated in the woods he could feel the gentle call of nature and he began a daily exercise he had developed. He began to breathe at Natures pace and he attempted to see how far into the woods he could sense. He could almost feel the trees as they sway in the wind. He felt as if he had become rooted to the ground and intertwined with the delicate system in the dirt. Each blade of grass was a hair on his head and each branch an arm or leg. It all felt so peaceful, so surreal.

"Yamato?"

The connection broke as another person landed in the clearing next to him. He opened his eyes to see a masked shinobi with one sharingan eye staring at him. He looked around him and a few trees had begun to grow and circle around where he sat.

"Hello Kakashi sempai."

"Are you ready for our mission?"

"Yes, I was just centering myself. It is my first one after all."

Yamato's skills had been so impressive that the Third had asked him to join the Leaf Villages Anbu Black Ops. He agreed and was placed under the command of Kakashi Hatake. For the past two weeks Kakashi had been teaching him, and Yamato just soaked up the information. And today was an exceedingly special day for him as it would be his first mission alongside his Anbu squad. But it was also one of the most terrifying. He had not been I the line of duty as a shinobi as far as he could remember. Would he mess up, or get his team killed out there? Would he see his brother again? He didn't know the answer but he knew he needed to brave the challenge.

Kakashi had been given the command of his very own Anbu squad, which was made up of newer members, whom also happened to be extraordinarily talented. Yamato followed his captain, whom he had much respect for, to the teams meeting point. When he got there he took note of the other three members of the Anbu squad. All of them wore the same standard issue outfit. The first member was a purple haired woman who was named Yugao Uzuki, and he knew that she was one of Konoha's top kenjutsu wielders. The second was the youngest member of the group, Itachi Uchiha, who was a specialist in Genjustu, as well as being deadly with Taijutsu, and Ninjutsu, but his Sharingan eyes were his deadliest weapon. The final member of the team was a girl whom Yamato had heard of many times, but never actually met. She was the apprentice of his former kidnapper, Orochimaru. Anko Mitarashi who, like, her teacher, was proficient in the use of snake summoning, and snake related Ninjutsu. She was also highly adept at interrogation techniques.

"Ok listen up you four. From now on we will be known as Team Ro. When on duty your names no longer exist. You will wear your Anbu mask at all times. This is to protect yourself, and your loved ones. I am your captain and I have only one thing to say. Those who abandon their mission are trash, but those who abandon their comrades are worse than trash."

He walked over to each member and gave them their code name.

"Yugao, you will be Neko. Anko you will be Hebi. Itachi, your name is Karasu. And Yamato, you will be called Mori. Now you will call me captain Inu. Our first mission as a squad is the capture of a rogue ninja cell, they are to be interrogated if possible, and killed either after the interrogation, or on sight. Use good judgment on your targets. Here is a file on the shinobi you will most likely come up against."

Kakashi passed around the file to his team. Once the all had their look he continued.

"We have four days to complete this mission. Most of you are newer to Anbu, and for that reason our comrades in the Black Ops division don't think we can make that deadline. So I want to show them that they underestimate us. Let's get it done in two shall we."

The team smirked at Kakashi, excited for their challenge, and ready to prove themselves.

"Masks on, we leave now." And with that Team Ro began their first mission.

…

Naruto sat in his room reading a new book. He had been in Konoha with his new family for about a month now, and he was saddened by the fact that Yamato was on a mission. For the past few weeks he had been training almost nonstop so he couldn't spend much time with Naruto. As much as he hated to admit it Naruto was kind of afraid to branch out and meet new people. He had become friends with Sasuke but that seemed to be as far as he could push himself.

"Naruto?"

Tsunade walked into his room to see him sitting in the middle of the floor. She looked at the book and read the title. A beginner's guide to Fuinjutsu. Part of her was happy that he seemed to be so interested and dedicated to becoming a shinobi, but she also wanted him to have his childhood.

"Naruto Why don't you go out today?"

"I'm fine mom, I just started reading this new book Uncle Jiraiya sent me."

"Why don't you go see if Sasuke wants to play?

"I don't really want to go outside mom."

Tsunade took a deep breath. As much as she didn't want to force him, she knew it wasn't healthy for him ti be cooped up indoors all of the time.

"I'm not asking Naruto. Go outside, go to the park. Shizune will take you to Sasuke's to get him too. You need to get out of the house more."

She could see that Naruto was uncomfortable and it pained her. But she knew that it was the right thing to do. But a smile came to her face as she knew exactly how to get him going.

"If you go play and make at least one new friend today, I will take you and any friends you make to Ichiraku's for ramen."

Before she even finished the sentence Naruto dropped the book and ran to get his hoodie on. Naruto had fallen in love with what he called Kami's gift to Mankind when Tsunade stopped there one day after shopping with him. The old man who ran the little ramen stand was named Teuchi, and his younger daughter Ayame who was twelve, had given them a discount for the day as Kushina used to be one of his best customers and they had just loved Naruto. Tsunade found out the hard way though that Naruto could just about eat his weight in ramen.

"I'll be back later mom!" He yelled out.

Tsunade wasn't too concerned about letting him go off on his own. He may have been six but he was fairly self-sufficient for his age. That and the Third Hokage always had a member of Anbu watching over him in case Orochimaru tried to send someone after him.

Naruto walked down the street towards the Uchiha Compound. He noticed some people would smile at him as he walked by, and many other would glare at him. He didn't get upset by it because he understood why. When the announcement was made that he was indeed alive and had returned to Konoha most of the villagers were happy that the only child of their beloved Fourth Hokage was alive and well. The rest of them still saw the demon fox that took away their loved ones six years ago when they looked at him. HE would never condemn them for their ignorance on sealing, because he felt sorry for the pain that Kurama had caused them, intentionally or not.

When Naruto finally arrived at the compound he saw the two guards standing at the entrance. They were dressed in the Konoha ninja police uniform and he thought they looked cool.

"Hello officers." He said to them. They smirked at the nickname the boy had given them form the moment he realized what they did.

"Hello Naruto. You here for Captain Fugaku's kid again?"

"Yeah, can I go in?"

"No making trouble."

They let him pass and he ran up the street to his friend's house. Mikoto was outside working on a small garden when she saw the blonde approaching.

"Oh hello Naruto."

"Hi Lady Mikoto."

"Naruto how many times do I have to tell you not to call me that?" She said as she shook her head and put her hand to her forehead.

"You are the wife of the Noble Uchiha clans head. It is respectful." He stated officially.

"Yes but I also consider you family, so no more Lady Mikoto ok."

"Yes mam. Can Sasuke come play? Mom wants me to go to the park, and I don't really want to go alone."

She smiled at Naruto. She thought his shyness was adorable.

"How about I take both of you there, would you like that Naruto?"

"Yes please!"

"Ok then let me go get Sasuke."

…

Team Ro had maintained a fast pace and within ten hours they were able to find the town in the Land of fire where the missing ninja had been spotted. They stopped about a mile outside to keep their distance. Kakashi took point and the rest sat to rest for a moment. Kakashi bit his thump and made a few hand signs.

"Summoning Jutsu!" He slammed his hand on the tree trunk he stood on and in a puff of smoke a small brown dog with goggles and a cape sat looking up to him.

"Hey there Pakkun I need your help."

"Hey Captain Inu, who's the dog?" Anko asked.

"Who are calling a cute little puppy, huh?" Pakkun asked with a glare.

"I didn't say anything about a cute puppy." She responded confused.

Yamato had to stop himself from laughing at Anko's confusion. He remembered what he had been told about the seriousness of missions and he wanted to be completely professional while on a mission.

"This is Pakkun and he is one of my summoned ninja hounds. He will be tracking our missing ninja."

"Ok Kakashi do you have their scent?"

Kakashi handed the dog a piece of cloth. Pakkun smelled it and picked up a trail nearby.

"Pakkun, report back when you find them, or in three hours, whichever comes first ok."

"You got it Kakashi. Keep snake girl in line will ya." Pakkun took off running after insulting Anko.

"Stupid mutt."

Yamato decided to try meditating again to keep his mind clear for the mission. He crossed his legs and balanced on the branch as he meditated. He could feel the energy of the tree as it coursed from the nutrients in the soil, into the root system of the trunk, and throughout the trees branches and leaves. Yamato wasn't sure how long he was connected to the tree for but a nearby presence stopped his concentration.

"Mori, you ok over here?"

Yamato looked to see Itachi standing nearby him.

"Yeah Karasu, why do you ask?"

"Well your branch is covered in flowers and the wood warped around you a bit."

Yamato looked around him and saw that the tree branch grew around him creating a sort of chair that molded to his body as he meditated and indeed it was covered with flowers.

"Wow good going nature boy." Anko said with a slight amount of venom in her voice.

"You really do have the Wood Release of the First Hokage!" Yugao said slightly amazed.

Kakashi walked over to Yamato and looked him in the eyes.

"You need to keep your chakra under control. We don't need anyone noticing us because you morph the trees out here."

"Yes Captain Inu."

As Kakashi walked away, Itachi sat next to Yamato.

"How are you feeling about Anbu Yamato?"

"The training was intense, and I do enjoy being part of the team. But I know that Naruto misses me."

"Sasuke is the same. But at least they have each other as friends to keep them busy. I was afraid that Sasuke wouldn't make friends as he can be a little big headed about our clan. I hope Naruto can help get him out of that mindset."

"If anyone can its Naruto."

"Gather around guys!" Kakashi said just loud enough for everyone to hear him. Pakkun sat next to him on the bench. Everyone quickly formed up with him awaiting their orders.

"Ok Pakkun, go ahead."

"The base is about ten miles northwest of here. I smelled roughly ten ninja in there with most being around Chunin level if their chakra is correct. Two of them are most likely Jonin."

"Thanks Pakkun, you did well."

"See ya later Kakashi." Pakkun disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"Ok you guys here's the plan."

…

Naruto and Sasuke laughed as they spoke to each other. They had both been reading up on shinobi arts, so they felt like they were going to become better ninja. Mikoto listened to the boy's conversation and smiled at their child like views.

"So Naruto how are you holding up with Yamato being gone on missions?"

"Well I do miss him, but I'm glad that he made Anbu. I am afraid that Orochimaru is going to come for him though."

Naruto had told Sasuke all about his time with the Snake Sannin. He felt like he could trust his friend.

"Yeah I miss Itachi too. He doesn't have time to help me train or anything anymore. But I'm proud that I have such a strong brother."

"You know what this means right Sasuke?"

"What?"

"We just need to be better ninja than they are then. That will show them don't you think." Naruto said with a large grin on his face.

"Naruto you're such a loser sometimes." Sasuke said as he laughed.

"Shut up Sasuke, you jerk." Naruto laughed back.

Mikoto just rolled her eyes at the boy's antics. Up ahead was the park so Naruto and Sasuke ran off ahead to play. They saw a bunch of other kids, but the one who really peaked their curiosity was a boy who was laying down and looking up into the sky. Naruto walked up to him and looked down at the kids face. He had a haircut that looked like a pineapple on his head.

"What are you doing?" Naruto asked.

"I'm watching the clouds."

"Why?" Sasuke asked as he walked up.

"It's relaxing. There are so many troublesome things around here, so I like to watch clouds."

"Doesn't it get boring?" asked Naruto.

"Nope."

The boy looked at Naruto and Sasuke's confused faces.

"Just lay down and join me, you will see what I mean."

So Naruto, and Sasuke laid down on the grass and just watched clouds. Naruto felt that it was odd how relaxed he really did feel. There were no troubles going on anymore, just him and the clouds.

"Wow your smart for doing this."

"Shikamaru."

What?"

"My name is Shikamaru Nara."

"I'm Sasuke Uchiha."

"And I'm Naruto Senju-Namikaze."

Shikamaru sat up and looked at the two newcomers.

"So you're the son of Fugaku, and you're the Fourth Hokage's son. Well today just got more eventful. What a drag."

"And you are from the Nara clan." Sasuke pointed out. "Your dad is the greatest strategist in the village."

"Yeah, that's my dad. So what are you two doing?"

"Well we were just looking for people to play with."

"As it seems my cloud watching is over for the day, you two should follow me I guess. I have some friends you can meet."

"Ok." Naruto said a little more excitedly.

Shikamaru led the two kids over to another area of the park. They saw three kids sitting there. One was slightly chubby and had a bag of potato chips in his hands. The second was wearing a pair of sunglasses and had on a white shirt, he seemed to be watching a colony of ants at work. The third was standing around with a smug look on his face as if he was the man in charge. He also had red triangle marks on his cheeks.

"Hey Shikamaru whose that with you?" The chubby kid asked.

"Choji, this is Naruto and Sasuke."

"Choji Akimichi." The chubby kid said as he stood up and offered his hand.

"Sasuke Uchiha."

"Naruto Senju-Namikaze."

The three kids looked up in shock at Naruto's name. They stood up and hurried over to him.

"You're Naruto Namikaze!" Choji asked.

"Naruto Senju-Namikaze." He corrected

"You are the Fourth Hokage's child," The one with glasses stoically said.

"Yeah that's him." Shikamaru answered.

"He doesn't look so strong." The third kid said with a scoff.

"And you are?" Sasuke asked.

"Kiba Inuzuka. I'm the next head on my clan." He said with a big head.

"That's awesome." Naruto said trying to be friendly. "And what's your name?" He asked the kid with glasses.

"I am Shino Aburame."

"Well Choji, Shino, Kiba, you guys want to play with us?" Naruto asked.

They all agreed and the six of them played various games for the next few hours. Mikoto caught up with the other boy's mothers while their kids all played.

…

Kaizen Yonoma was at his post watching out for any intruders. He had been at it for the past six hours and was staring to get tired. He heard a rustling in the trees. He jumped to attention ready to alert the rest of the camp. But it was just a crow flying out of the forest. He put his kunai away and looked at the bird. As he saw the birds red eye it was all over. Kaizen threw himself off of the watchtower and he fell fifty feet to his death.

"Good job Karasu, now for step 2, Neko, Hebi, infiltrate and take out any other guards."

Anko ran up to the wooden wall of the camp site. She channeled chakra into her feet and began to run up the side and jumped over the rest of the way. As she landed she saw two shinobi sitting at a fire laughing and drinking. Looking to her left she saw Yugao as well and after signing that she was ready the two struck. Anko summoned a small snake, which slithered its way to the first man and bit his ankle injected him with a paralysis poison, and knocking him out. The second man stood up afraid as he saw the snake. As he tried to run he stepped on a wire and found himself caught in a trap. He became wrapped up in ninja wire and felt a hard blow to the back of his head, knocking him unconscious.

"Guards are incapacitated." Yugao said into her radio.

"Good job you two." Kakashi said. He, Yamato, and Itachi entered the camp and all five approached five different tents.

Kakashi entered the first tent and tied up the sleeping ninja after identifying him as Ryo Nakamara Chunin missing ninja from the Hidden Grass village. Anko again had her snake make sure that the guy in her tenet didn't wake up. Yugao followed Kakashi's lead and bound her prisoner. Itachi cast a Genjustu on his target so that he wouldn't awaken.

Yamato entered his targets tent and found the man asleep as well. We waved through hand signs.

"Wood Style: Entrapping Roots Jutsu!" Tree root began to entangle his target, and as the man woke up and tried to speak they gagged him.

"Target is secure." He said into his radio.

"That leaves only two more. Let's go to the last tent."

As the group approached the last tent a large fire ball shot out at them.

"Move now." Kakashi yelled out.

The group dodged as two shinobi jumped out from inside the tent. Both were wearing similar red shinobi clothing and both had forehead protectors with the insignia of the Hidden Rock Village scratched out.

"These are the Odaki brothers. They were rare users of fire and earth style jutsu. They are Jonin level so be careful." Kakashi said to the group.

The first brother flashed through hand signs and shot a flurry of fire balls at the group.

"Water Style: Water wall Jutsu!" Yamato created a large wall of water that turned the fire into steam.

The second brother ran around the wall of water and as he did Yugao engaged him with her sword. He was on the defensive diving out of the way of her strikes and then he burrowed under the ground.

"Neko off the ground now!" Itachi yelled out and she jumped right as he tried to pull her under.

"Ninja Art: Striking Shadow Snakes!" Anko shot a swarm of snakes from her arm that impacted with the ninja in the ground forcing him out and as he was in the air Yugao came down upon him.

"Sword Art: Moonlit Night Slash." The man looked on in shock as her sword seemed to multiply as it came down on him. Not knowing which way to dodge he didn't move and Yugao delivered a non-lethal, but immobilizing blow to him and h felt to the ground bloodied.

The other brother continues to fire jutsu after jutsu at Kakashi, Yamato, and Itachi. Unable to keep it up he started to grow tired and Kakashi made the most of his opponents' weakness.

"Ninja art: Fanged Pursuit Jutsu." A swarm of his summoned dogs burst from the ground around the enemy shinobi and they bit down all over his body keeping him in place and in pain.

"Great job team. Now Anko, Itachi if you would please."

Anko smiled sadistically as she approached her first victim, ready to make him spill his guts. As Kakashi heard the screams, he smiled and considered the mission to be his team's first success. He walked over to Yamato who was sitting down after using so much chakra to build his walls.

"Good work Mori. I was impressed today. Sorry for giving you trouble before but I had to make sure that you learned from potential mistakes."

"Thank you Captain Inu. It was a pleasure working under you."

"Just wait Mori, just wait."

…

Tsunade arrived at the park and she smiled at what she saw. Naruto was playing with five other boys, including Sasuke, and they all seemed to be from major shinobi clans too. Naruto saw his mom and ran over to her with a smile on his face and she hoped that his fear and nervousness would be going away.

"Hey mom I made four friends today."

"I can see that. I'm happy for you."

"You know what that means right?"

"What?" Then it dawned on her that she had forgotten her promise.

"We all get Ichiraku's!" He yelled out to his five friends.

"I have to buy ramen for six young boys, one of which is my son who eats his weight in ramen, and anther looks like an Akimichi. My wallet is doomed."

…

Thank you all for reading. Please continue voting on the poll. I was happy with the results so far but I want to know everyone's opinions on the matter. Please review, I love hearing from you guys, and it makes me want to update faster. Until next time.

Next Chapter: Academy Days: A problem Rooted.

Naruto Senju-Namikaze: 6 civilian

Sasuke Uchiha: 6 civilian

Shikamaru Nara: 6 civilian

Choji Akimichi: 6 civilian

Kiba Inuzuka: 6 civilian

Shino Aburame: 6 civilian

Tsunade Senju: 45 Sannin

Yamato Senju (Mori): 13 Anbu (Jonin)

Kakashi Hatake (Inu): 20 Anbu Captain (Jonin)

Itachi Uchiha (Karasu): 11 Anbu (Chunin)

Yugao Uzuki (Neko): 16 Anbu (Chunin)

Anko Mitarashi (Hebi): 14 Anbu (Chunin)


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, or anything associated with the manga, or anime. I only own this story.**

**Hey all, thanks for reading. I can't believe how well this story has done after 6 chapters. Thanks for the support on the last chapter, you guys rock. Another quick update. 40 reviews, 74 favorites, 114 followers, and 4,963 views. I was also placed into my first community, "Cool Bloodlimit Crossover Naruto" Thanks for all of the support, it really means a lot to me. Never thought this story would take off the way it has.**

**Fallencrt: Thanks for the idea, I agree it would be a great team. I'll put this into the vote. This story will be a Naruto-Sasuke-? Team.**

**Guest: Thanks for the vote and the review, I will put them I the poll.**

**Joe: Thanks for the support.**

**LegionZX: Thanks for the vote I'll add it in the poll.**

**InnocentxPsycho: Thanks for the vote, I'll add it I the poll.**

**Michu-92: Thanks for the review. I love how Itachi was an Anbu so young, just shows how awesome he is. Thanks for the vote, I will add it in. I think Shikamaru is awesome as well.**

**The poll is doing well, So far there have been 40 voters. Here are the standings so far.**

**Yakumo 15**

**Shikamaru 15**

**Hinata 13**

**Sai 6**

**Shino 6**

**Ino 5**

**Sakura 5**

**OC 5**

**Kiba 1 **

**Choji 1**

**Other 0**

**If you don't like who is in the lead then please vote. All voters get 2 choices when they vote. The poll will close June 15****th****. Thank you for participating. Today is your last chance. Poll closes at midnight. I will unveil the winner when I split them into teams after graduation.**

**Short time skip here, 2 years. Naruto and the gang are starting at the academy. How will they deal with the slow start? Yamato gets an unexpected mission form Hiruzen. How will that affect his future? I hope you enjoy the chapter. Please review.**

A Hero's DNA

Chapter 6: Academy Days: A problem Rooted.

Naruto stood in front of the building where he would spend the next four years. In front of him was the Konoha ninja academy. He had been preparing for this day over the past two years and finally he was old enough to join his friends as they began their journey to become shinobi of the hidden leaf.

Naruto had grown over two years and in that time he had adjusted to his new life quite well. Sasuke remained his best and closest friend. He could relate to the fame that Naruto had learned to deal with. Naruto also grew closer with Shikamaru, and both would just sit and watch the clouds at times. Sasuke couldn't sit still for too long to keep up with them. Shikamaru also seemed to be incredibly intelligent and good with strategy. His favorite game was Shogi, and Naruto would play with him. Shikamaru almost always won, save for a rare few instances where Naruto made a strange or unpredictable move that threw Shikamaru off. Naruto wasn't as close with his other friends though, but still hung out with them all occasionally.

About a year ago, Tsunade began to teach Naruto in the art of the shinobi. She began with basic chakra control lessons and had him study the various histories of different shinobi cultures and he soaked up the information like a sponge. She even told him that if his control was good enough she would try to teach him some medical jutsu, if he managed to test into her extra class, which would be starting during his first year at the academy. Naruto found that he had trouble with chakra control and deduced that it was due to his large reserves as well as Kurama. He knew that he would have to work almost triple what anyone else had to on his control to be at a similar level. But that also meant he would have even more chakra at his disposal.

Naruto had also been spending much of his free time learning calligraphy and Fuinjutsu. He found that his hands seemed to be able to almost effortlessly glide across the page when he would practice, but as he learned that the Uzumaki clan were Fuinjutsu specialists, it made sense that he would be a natural. One of the first things that he did was create a set of training weights, with Jiraiya's help, as his uncle had been helping him with Fuinjutsu. At the moment each weight was about fifty pounds. Naruto felt that he should update them soon, as he could barely notice them anymore.

In the present, Naruto walked forward through the main entrance to the academy with Tsunade right behind. All of the new students had their parents with them. Naruto received his class assignment form a nearby Chunin and walked back to his mom.

"Ok, are you all ready?" Tsunade asked him.

"Yeah mom. Don't worry about me. It's just the academy."

"Well do your best, and behave. I don't want to hear that you're slacking off."

"I'm not Shikamaru, I'll make you proud mom." Naruto said with a smile.

"Ok I will see you later. I just wish Yamato was here to see you on your first day."

"He is off doing real shinobi work. That is where he should be." Naruto told her.

"Well your right, of course. Have a great day."

"You too mom."

Naruto turned around and walked towards the classroom he was assigned too. As he entered the room he saw only three other people in the room so far. One was Sasuke, who waved him over, the other two were an indigo haired girl with lavender white eyes, and Shikamaru who sat in a seat next to the empty seat Sasuke reserved for Naruto.

"Hey Sasuke, het Shikamaru, so I guess that we are in the same class together huh."

"Looks that way Naruto." Shikamaru answered.

"I just hope that this academy isn't as much of a joke as some of my clansmen say it is." Sasuke said fearing for the worst.

"Just think of it was a chance to show off that Uchiha pride." Naruto joked.

"Loser."

"Jerk"

Both of them started laughing. Naruto knew that Sasuke had already started his ninja raining as well. They had ever trained together several times. Sasuke was strong and fast for their age group, but Naruto was no slouch either. Naruto turned around to see the girl in the back again. She was fairly quiet so he figure he would say something to her.

"Hey, you're a Hyuga right?"

The girl looked startled but she met his eye and then turned away.

"Y…yes."

"What's your name?"

"H….Hinata…and y…you are?"

"I'm Naruto. You know that you stutter allot right?"

She looked down as if she was ashamed.

"Hey don't worry about it. You just need to have more confidence in yourself. Why don't you come and train with us sometime." Naruto offered.

"That….that sound good." She answered.

"Ok and we will work on that stutter."

She blushed and then looked away again. The rest of the class filed in shortly. Kiba, Choji, and Shino also happened to be in their class. There was also a girl with green eyes and pink hair, and a blonde girl who sat next to her. In the very back corner sat a boy with black hair and incredibly pale skin. Then two teachers walked in and stood in front of the class. The first had brown hair that was in a ponytail shaped like a pineapple. He had black eyes and a scar that went across his nose. The second teacher had light blue hair that went to his shoulders. And both of them wore the standard Chunin attire, completed with their flak vests.

"Hello class my name is Iruka Umino, and this is my partner Mizuki. We will be your instructors for the next four years. I look forward to working with all of you and I know that you will be great Hidden Leaf Shinobi. Now let's get started with a history lesson."

…

Yamato walked into the Third Hokage's office after the old man sent for him. He was dressed in his Anbu attire and had on his mask. Newly placed on his back was a short tanto sword that he had recently begun learning how to use. The past few years had really made him strong, and his control over the Wood Release increased exponentially, so much so that it was close to being comparable to the first Hokage. His mission success rate was almost as good as Kakashi's.

"You called for me Lord Hokage?"

"Yes you may take off your mask Yamato."

Yamato did as he was told and sat down across form Hiruzen.

"I have to ask you to do something for me that you will not like."

"What is it Lord Hokage?"

"I assume that you have heard of my ex-advisor Danzo and his root Anbu."

"Yes sir."

"Two years ago I ordered his force to de disbanded, and I have reason to suspect that Danzo is up to his old tricks again. What I need you to do is, infiltrate hi ranks and keep close tabs on him for me."

Yamato's face broke out in surprise. A solo infiltration mission into the ranks of the personal Anbu sect led by, a Konoha elder, or ex elder. He immediately understood that this would be the most dangerous mission he had ever gone on.

"Why me lord Hokage?"

"Danzo is a collector. He wants what he perceives as the greatest weapons Konoha has as his own. And after all of your work these past two years, you have proven yourself unique."

Yamato didn't know what to say. He couldn't exactly turn the mission down when he was handpicked for it, but he also didn't know if he was skilled enough to do it.

"Yamato, if I didn't know that you could handle this, I wouldn't have chosen you. Danzo is a man that needs to be watched. He will stop at nothing to get what he believes is due to him. He even tried to turn the councils against your brother in hopes of turning him into a weapon. He is a dangerous man to just leave alone."

Yamato's face changed when he heard about Danzo wanting his brother. He knew that he couldn't let that happen no matter what.

"I'll do it sir."

"Excellent Yamato."

"So, Lord Hokage, what do I do?"

"Just keep up your everyday life, and missions the same as always. Trust me when I say Danzo will get in touch with you. And when he does join him. After that we shall play it by ear. That is all Yamato you are dismissed.

…

Naruto sat in class taking notes on everything Iruka sensei said. He found the whole lecture rather boring, ad wasn't sure exactly how this would help him as a ninja, but he wanted to learn everything he could just in case he needed it. It had been three months since the academy started and Naruto was starting to feel a little antsy. All they had done so far was history lesson, shinobi customs and rules, and chakra theory. He wanted to put it into practice. Iruka noticed that Naruto, who was one of his best students, was starting to fidget around more and more each day.

"Ok guys that's enough for today. Go home and study because I will be testing you all on this material tomorrow." Iruka said to the class.

He watched as one by one all of the students began to leave in a hurry. Naruto was never in a hurry though and he would always wait to leave until just about everyone else was gone. It intrigued Iruka to no end.

"Naruto can I talk to you for a moment?"

"Is there something wrong Iruka sensei. Did I do something wrong?" He asked as he approached Iruka's desk.

"No Naruto, of course not. I just wanted to speak with you for a moment."

Iruka pulled a chair over to the desk for Naruto, and the blonde sat down.

"Is there something bothering you Naruto? In class I mean. I've noticed you're getting a little stir crazy."

"It's nothing important Iruka sensei." Naruto said, not wanting to overstep any boundaries.

"No, Naruto, I would like to know."

"Well…" Naruto was hesitant to say anything in fear of disrespecting his teacher.

"Don't worry Naruto, you won't get in any trouble."

"It's just, all of the history lessons are interesting and all, but I don't see how they will help me be a ninja. It's been three months and we haven't done any Taijutsu training besides everyday normal workouts, nor have we gone past chakra theory to actually chakra control exercises." He said without looking into Iruka's eyes.

"I'll answer all of your concerns ok Naruto."

Naruto just shook his head yes to Iruka.

"There is a saying that history will repeat itself if we don't learn from it. All of the lessons are to teach you about the problems of our past, so that maybe we won't make those same mistakes. And trust me, shinobi have made more than enough mistakes. As for the slow pace at physical and chakra ability, Most of our students do not come from shinobi families, so while you and the other clan born children have been conditioned for ninja training the others have not. Because of this we need to build them up so that they can handle the harder training we will eventually do. Does that all make sense."

"Yes sensei."

Naruto looked down to the ground and he thought of how Iruka just explained everything and he realized that his wants were not fair to the other students. H felt bad for being slightly selfish, and made a vow to himself that he wouldn't leave anyone behind ever again.

"I'm sorry Iruka sensei."

"There is no need to apologize Naruto. That's what teachers are here for, to help students understand things. And if you can take what I just said to you to heart and learn from it then I have more than accomplished my duties as your teacher."

Naruto smiled up at Iruka and decided that from now on he would take what his sensei taught him to heart more, because Iruka really was there to teach him, not only how to be a good shinobi, but how to be a good person.

"Naruto have you thought about applying to Tsunade's medical training class."

"Yes, mom is going to be great teacher."

"I almost forgot that she was your mother." Iruka said while chuckling a bit. "Well you can get going Naruto, and remember to study for the test tomorrow, I expect to see your same great marks."

"I'll see you tomorrow Iruka sensei."

Naruto ran out of the room and headed home to go over all of his notes.

…

Yamato was on his way back to the village after completing a mission. He could see the village gates about a mile up ahead. His thoughts drifted to the mission that the Third had given him. It had been three months and he had not been contacted yet. He wondered if Hiruzen was correct about this Danzo guy. When he reached the village and checked in with the gate guards, he began to head to turn in his completed mission. He felt like someone was following him, but when he looked around there was no one.

After turning in his mission Yamato decided that it was time for a little R&R so he went looking for a nice secluded spot in the woods. When he found it he got into his meditative position and began to feel the nature around him. Everything was still, and he knew that it meant he wasn't alone. The sound of shuriken chopping through the air alerted him to a hostile three and a tree burst from the ground to stop the thrown stars.

Two masked figures jumped from the trees and began to engage him with their kunai knives. Yamato drew his tanto and blocked the oncoming strikes. The attacking shinobi slashed and weaved through Yamato's defenses and impaled him with their kunai. As it bled the body turned into wood.

"That would be my Wood Clone Jutsu, I can keep this up thirty times over." One of the ninja said.

"Wood Style: Binding Roots Jutsu!"

The roots from the surrounding tress began to break through the ground and wrap themselves around the shinobi bodies. They attempted to use the Replacement jutsu but found it wouldn't work nor would the Body Flicker, or any jutsu.

"You can keep trying all you want. Those roots are absorbing your chakra and feeding the trees. Now unless you want permanent chakra exhaustion, or worse death, you tell me what you're doing here, and why you attacked me."

"Well, that was an interesting fight. I must say I am impressed that you can use the Wood Release jutsu so effectively when you aren't of Senju descent. Orochimaru really knows what he's doing doesn't he?" An elderly man with a bandage covered eye and a scar on his cheek said as he approached Yamato.

"Who are you?"

"My name is Danzo, and I have come to offer you a lace at my side as the weapon which will destroy all who oppose us."

"And why would I do that?"

"Because I know you. You seek peace above all else, but you know that true peace, in this world of ours, is impossible. If you want peace you must enforce your will on all of those around you. If Konoha was to take over the other villages, as is its destiny, then we would have peace. I offer you the chance to help make it a reality."

"And if I say no?"

"Then I shall leave you alone, for now."

"I'm in. Show me this peace you wish to create." Yamato said to Danzo.

"Very good. Now if you would please release my ninja."

Yamato made a hand sign and the roots recede into the ground.

"_That technique will be far more accurate for you soon enough."_ Danzo thought to himself.

…

Naruto walked home with Sasuke, and Shikamaru. They had just finished their test over shinobi principles and the First Great War. Sasuke had a 94%, Naruto had a 95%, and because of Naruto making sure he didn't just sleep through it, Shikamaru had a 100% on the test.

"Well it looks like the great Uchiha clan got beat out huh Shikamaru." Naruto said trying to goad Sasuke.

"Naruto just shut up ok, a 94 isn't a bad score." Sasuke defended. "It is still an A."

"Sasuke you're right a 94 isn't a bad score." Naruto began.

"But a 95, and a 100 is better." Shikamaru finished.

Naruto and Shikamaru laughed at Sasuke's misfortune. You could see his ivory face go red from embarrassment, and faux anger.

"You two just wait until we get into some real ninja stuff, then I will make you eat your words."

"Maybe Sasuke, but for now your still third best." Shikamaru responded.

"By one point!"

The three friends joked and laughed on the rest of their walk to their respective houses. Unbeknownst to them a black haired boy was following and watching for a distance.

…

"Welcome to your new home Yamato."

Yamato looked around at the underground base of Root. He memorized every detail that he could so that he could relay the information the Third Hokage.

"Is something the matter Yamato? Are things not to your liking? Or to Hiruzen's?"

Yamato paled, there was no way this man knew was there.

"What are you talking about?"

"You know full well what I am talking about. I am no fool, unlike the Hokage. I know that you were ordered to infiltrate my organization and relay information back to Hiruzen. It would have been a good plan, except that I have already done it."

Yamato knew that he needed to get out as soon as he could. But then he heard a strange sound behind him. He saw ink animals crawling across the floor as a black haired pale boy walked towards Danzo.

"Hello Sai, are you keeping tabs on the boy?"

"Yes Lord Danzo. Naruto Namikaze is under watch. We await to see what power he may bring to root."

"You leave my brother out of this!" Yamato felt his strength fail him as he was grabbed from behind. It was as if his chakra was stolen

"Silence you fool. That boy and yourself are nothing in this world but tools. Tools to be used as the tool masters see fit. He will join root I will be sure of that. And as for you. Sealing Art: Mind Snare Seal!"

Danzo placed his hand upon Yamato's head and a mark appeared. Yamato fell forward and when he raised his head all emotion was gone from his eyes.

"You will be the foundation of the new Leaf. Fitting with whose powers you were granted." Danzo turned away from his new puppet.

"Now for our first target."

…

Thank you all for reading. Please continue voting on the poll. Today is your last chance. Poll closes at midnight. I was happy with the results so far but I want to know everyone's opinions on the matter. Please review, I love hearing from you guys, and it makes me want to update faster. Until next time.

Next Chapter: Family Ties: Root rising.

Naruto Senju-Namikaze: 8 Academy Student

Sasuke Uchiha: 8 Academy Student

Shikamaru Nara: 8 Academy Student

Hinata Hyuga: 8 Academy Student

Sai: 8 Academy Student (root Anbu)

Tsunade Senju: 47 Sannin

Yamato Senju (Mori): 15 Anbu (Jonin)

Kakashi Hatake (Inu): 22 Anbu Captain (Jonin)

Iruka Umino: 18 Academy Instructor (Chunin)

Mizuki: 18 Academy Instructor (Chunin)

Danzo: 64 Root Commander (Ex-Advisor)


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, or anything associated with the manga, or anime. I only own this story.**

**Hey all, thanks for reading. I can't believe how well this story has done after 7 chapters. Thanks for the support on the last chapter, you guys make my day. Yay another update. 46 reviews, 81 favorites, 125 followers, and 6,428 views. I was also placed into my first community, "Cool Bloodlimit Crossover Naruto" Thanks for all of the support, it really means a lot to me. Never thought this story would take off the way it has.**

**Mfmxxx: Thank you for your critique. I know that there isn't actually a council. I also know that there are a lot of stories that are ruined by the portrayal of a council. I only planned on using that creation the one chapter, and I won't be bring them back anymore. It was only meant to be a source of conflict for the very beginning of the story. I hope that you still read the rest of it. Thanks for the review.**

**Butterflypuss: I like Yamato too, I'm glad that I was able to surprise you. Thanks for the review.**

**Michu-92: I hate Danzo, though I'll admit everything he does in his eyes is for the village, so his intentions are good, he just has a horribly wrong way of doing it.**

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**The poll for the third member of team 7 is over. In the end I had 56 voters. I will reveal the winner, as well as the full results, when the group graduates and are put on teams. A huge thanks to all who voted. I have another poll starting for, Who will be Naruto's Pairing in this story. Warning! There will be no NaruSaku, NaruSasu, or NaruHina as they are all so overdone. As much as I enjoy the NaruHina pair, I have another story that has it already and I want to do something new, that I do not see often. **

**The poll is now open and is on my profile. **

**A Hero's DNA**

**Chapter 7:** Family Ties: A Root is rising.

Naruto was afraid. Yamato had not come home in over a month. Usually if he was going to be out on a long term mission, he would have told him about it so he didn't worry. Naruto also noticed that his mom seemed distressed about the situation. That really worried him because she was normally much more reserved about her feelings when Yamato was on missions.

"Naruto!"

"Huh…what?"

Iruka's yelling had snapped Naruto out of his thought, making him realize that he was in class. Everyone laughed at his predicament causing him to blush.

"Sorry Iruka Sensei."

"Pay attention Naruto, I was asking you a question. Now because you weren't paying attention, tell me what the five kages are and what villages do they rule over."

Naruto stood up to answer the question. He was still embarrassed and all eyes were on him, though he was gradually getting more and more used to the feeling.

"The Five Kages are the Mizukage, or Water Shadow, of the Village Hidden in the Mist, The Tsuchikage, or Earth Shadow, of the Village Hidden in the Rocks, the Raikage, or Lightning Shadow, of the Village Hidden in the Clouds, the Kazekage, or Wind Shadow, of the Village Hidden in the Sand, and of course the Hokage, or Fire Shadow, of our own Village Hidden in the Leaves."

Naruto sat down while Iruka gave him a soft smile.

"Very good Naruto, now next time please pay attention."

"Yes Iruka sensei."

Naruto waited the rest of the class out and tried his best to not become too distracted. The last thing he wanted to do was make Iruka's job any harder. Finally it was time to leave the class so he go up and collected his belongings.

"Hey Naruto is everything alright?" Sasuke asked him.

"Yeah, I'm just worried about my brother Yamato. He hasn't been home in over a month, which is weird."

"Maybe he's on a mission. Itachi goes on long missions all the time. Now that he's an Anbu Captain maybe he would know where Yamato is."

"Yeah, let's ask him."

Naruto and Sasuke went to leave when Iruka cut them off. He didn't look angry, but they could tell he wasn't happy.

"Naruto, we need to talk for a moment. Sasuke you can wait outside."

"Ok Iruka sensei. Go on Sasuke, I'll be right out."

"Hurry." Sasuke said.

Sasuke left the room and Iruka sat at his desk with Naruto following close behind.

"Naruto we need to talk about what happened today."

"I know, I'm sorry for not paying attention. I just had a lot on my mind sensei."

"Care to tell me what was so important?" Iruka asked.

"My brother Yamato." Naruto answered.

"What about him?"

"I think something bad happened to him."

"What do you mean Naruto?"

"He wasn't been home in over a month, and he never leaves for that long without telling me."

"I understand that you are worried but from what I hear Yamato is a very strong ninja."

"He is, but I can't shake this weird feeling that he needs help."

"Ok well I will look passed this for today ok. But you need to focus while you're here. If I had to put every class on pause and wit for people all the time no one would really learn anything."

"Ok Iruka sensei, it won't happen again."

"Good then you may leave."

"I'll see you tomorrow sensei."

Naruto ran outside to get Sasuke and the two went to find Itachi at the Uchiha clan Compound.

…

"What do you mean missing?"

Tsunade was beyond angry. She hadn't heard from her elder son in over a month and she could see the toll that it took on Naruto. She was worried so she went to see her old teacher and confront him about it. When she entered his office she saw that her sons Anbu team was present already. That is when Hiruzen informed her that Yamato was missing.

"We lost contact with him about a month ago."

"And you failed to tell me this because?"

"I had assigned him a mission of the utmost importance. He was supposed to make contact with me. I thought he just may have hit a snag."

"And what kind of mission was it?"

"Infiltration."

"Do not play games with me sensei. I want to know what mission you sent my son on."

"He was supposed to infiltrate Danzo's Anbu division, Root."

"I thought you had Danzo dismantle Root."

"I have reason to suspect he failed to do so. I gave him the mission so I could find proof and stop Danzo for good."

"Why did you pick Yamato? Out of everyone else, why him?"

"Danzo would have wanted him due to his Wood Release Kekkei Genkai." He told her.

Tsunade sat with her hands covering her face. She didn't know what to do in this situation. Naruto would be asking her about Yamato, how was she supposed to tell him that no one knew where he was, or even if he was alive at this point.

"Sensei, you had better hope that he turns up safe."

"Tsunade I understand…"

"No, you don't understand. You sent my son on a suicide mission to settle an old feud between you and your old friend. You should have finished this years ago sensei, and now I have to go and tell Naruto that his brother, the only person who kept him safe from Orochimaru, is missing, maybe even dead!" She yelled startling everyone in the room.

"Lady Tsunade please calm down." Kakashi tried to intervene.

She sat down and took a deep breath. She knew she shouldn't be acting like this but she couldn't help it. She had already lost far too much. She didn't want to lose her sons now too.

"Look, I'm sorry ok. I'm just worried and scared. I just got to be part of a family again, and I don't want to lose that. Not just for my sake, but also the boys."

"Tsunade, I am sorry. I promise that we will do whatever it takes to find…"

"Lord Hokage!" An Anbu burst into the room.

"What is it?"

"Someone is attacking the Uchiha district sir!"

"What?!" Itachi quickly asked.

…

Naruto and Sasuke were on their way to the Uchiha Compound. On the way they began to talk about their various training habits. Naruto had given Sasuke training weights so he could build up his strength and speed, and Sasuke's father Fugaku had taught him the Fire Ball Jutsu, as was the Uchiha family tradition. Naruto on the other hand had been learning more Fuinjutsu. He could create sealing scrolls by himself now, and Jiraiya had told him that it was an impressive feat for an eight year old. Yamato had also been working on some low level water and earth jutsu, which proved to be quite difficult for Naruto as he has yet to master them.

"So do you think we will start learning actual ninja stuff anytime soon?" Sasuke asked.

"I don't know, I hope so. I mean I guess the stuff we are learning is ninja related, but it doesn't seem that important. Are you going to try to get in the medical class?" Naruto asked.

"Me, no, I'm not into medical Ninjutsu. Now kenjutsu is something I could get into."

"Swordplay would be fun to learn, but who would teach us."

"Us? Heh, go find your own teacher." Sasuke said in a joking manner, earning a punch in the arm from Naruto. "

"I'm serious Sasuke."

"Well, my brother could probably show us a thing or two."

The two boys approached the compound and Sasuke saw something weird.

"Where are the guards?"

The boys ran up to the gate and walked through. What they saw changed their lives forever.

"Sasuke are…are they…?"

"Dead….I think so."

In front of them were the bodies of the guards, both with missing eyes and kunai lodged in their throats.

"Dad…Mom" Sasuke said under his breath.

"Hey what was that?"

Naruto heard a commotion coming from further inside the compound.

"I don't know, but I need to find my parents."

"Let's go Sasuke."

Sasuke and Naruto ran down the street of the compound and on their way they saw several other bodies of Sasuke's now deceased relatives. Tears stung Naruto's eyes and Sasuke felt like he would throw-up from the look of the corpses. They were all missing eyes. As they approached the sound of the commotion the saw a fight going on. All of the remaining Uchiha in the Compound including Sasuke's father were fighting a small group of what looked like Anbu.

"Dad!"

Fugaku saw his son who looked so frightened and it made him fighter all the harder. Two Anbu ninja charged at him and he took out a small tanto blade and impaled one of the attackers. He then ran through hand signs and used his Fire Ball Jutsu to light the other one ablaze. Then he ran over to Sasuke and Naruto.

"What are you two doing here it isn't safe.

"Dad what's going on?"

"These people just attacked us. They already butchered a lot of our clan and then they ripped out there eyes. It is sickening. You two get inside so that I can finish this fight. Sasuke and Naruto nodded to Fugaku.

"Wood Style: Body Binding Roots Jutsu!"

Fugaku found himself being surrounded by roots bursting from the ground beneath him. He tried to get away but felt like his chakra had been sucked away. One of the Anbu jumped down and prepared to kill the Uchiha clan head, and before he could strike he was kicked out of the way.

"Itachi, you're ok!" Sasuke yelled out as his brother landed on the ground.

Naruto!" the blonde turned to see Tsunade, The Third Hokage and a few Anbu running towards him.

"Anbu wipe out these killers!" Hiruzen said to Team Ro.

The Anbu who was kicked out of the way stood up and began to fight with Itachi.

"Fire Style: Fire Ball Jutsu!"

"Water Style: Water Wall Jutsu!"

Itachi's powerful fireball was extinguished by the disguise of steam.

"Earth Style: Earth Dragon Bomb Jutsu!"

In front of the masked Anbu a dragon head formed out of the ground. Its mouth opened and a flurry of earth bombs shot out at Itachi. He leapt out of the way and drew his tanto. The Anbu drew his own as well. Itachi and the Anbu fought a short kenjutsu match, with Itachi managing to cut the ninjas arm and back. With the Anbu in pain Itachi quickly spun and kicked the man to the ground. They removed his mask as he laid on the ground and were shocked at what they saw.

"Yamato?" Naruto couldn't believe that he saw his brother on the ground before him. His brother had been one of the killers who attacked the Uchiha Compound. Naruto was so confused, and scared he didn't know what to do even as Tsunade hugged him to her.

Yamato awoke suddenly and a tree sprouted from underneath him. The tree was covered in vines and those same vines entangled Itachi, Sasuke, and Fugaku, effectively pinning them in place. He stood up and grabbed a tonto, and tried to impale Itachi.

"Yamato stop!" Naruto yelled out causing Yamato to freeze in place. "What are you doing? You can't attack people from Konoha, then are your peers and friends!"

"N…Na…Naruto?" Yamato asked as he put away the tanto. "Naruto?!"

Yamato grabbed his head and began to shake and scream in the sky as he was overfilled with pain. The mark upon his forehead began to glow until he couldn't make sense out of reality anymore. Itachi opened his eyes and stared into Yamato's. A lone tear fell from Yamato's eyes as Itachi placed him under a Genjustu. Yamato fell to the ground in a heap. Kakashi, Anko, and Yugao arrived back, after killing all the other remaining killers

"Yamato?" Tsunade asked in shock as she knelt down next to her fallen son. She couldn't believe that he could be capable of this kind of senseless destruction.

"Mom, is Yamato going to be alright?"

"I don't know. Someone please find Jiraiya and get him over here."

…

Jiraiya wasn't too far away from the Hidden Leaf so it didn't take him long to get back. First he went to the hospital. He was shocked to see Yamato unconscious in bed and strapped down tight to the hospital bed. There was a glowing seal placed upon his forehead.

"Jiraiya please see what you can do about that seal." Tsunade requested.

"Sure thing Tsunade."

He approached the bed and began to examine the seal. HE put his hand upon Yamato's head and evaluated the markings, and the chakra used on the seal. He was quite impressed with the intricacy of the seal as well as the many levels and properties the seal had.

"This seal is expertly done, and nearly unbreakable. I am impressed by his handiwork here."

"So there isn't anything that you can do then?" Tsunade asked clearly upset.

"Hey now, I'm not giving them that much credit. This seal is cake for me. I was just saying how well designed it was."

Jiraiya's hand began to glow and make a loud vibrating noise as his chakra sped up. He placed his hand upon Yamato's forehead and the sound of the two clashing chakras became a loud screeching noise. Fortunately Yamato remained asleep. Jiraiya now finished smiled and walked out of the room. Fugaku, Itachi, Tsunade, Hiruzen, all of Team RO, and the two boys were outside waiting.

"We''?" Hiruzen asked.

"The seal was a Mind Snare Seal, which are used to completely take over one's body, personality, basically their entire being, while the real self has to watch in horror."

"So you are saying that he didn't act of his own accord?"

"Oh he most certainly wasn't. That poor boy had to watch as his body murdered several of the Uchiha, and attack his friend while ye couldn't do anything to stop it."

"Who would do something like this?" Itachi asked.

"This seal was definitely Danzo's work. I would stake my life on it." He said to the group. "He may be many things but A Fuinjutsu master is not one of them."

"Uncle Jiraiya, why would someone do this to Yamato, or the Uchiha clan?" Naruto asked.

"Naruto, I this world there are people who believe that any act of evil can be justified in a time of war. Danzo is a man who believes that here is no true peace in this world and because of that we are always at war. Now he loves this village, but he thinks that we must kill our emotion so that we can be the strongest nation and eventually take over all of the others by force."

Naruto didn't fully understand about Danzo that day, but he knew that he had to learn to understand him, so that he could overcome him.

"So what will we do about Yamato then sensei?" Jiraiya asked.

"Jiraiya are you sure that Yamato would never have attacked without having that seal?" Fugaku asked.

"Yes I am. That seal gave Danzo complete control over his body and used it as a tool to accomplish whatever he set out to do. Yamato would never have done this otherwise."

"He is correct father. I have served on the same squad as Yamato, and he is one of the few people I consider a true friend. I regret having to use a Genjustu on him but he had to be stopped."

"If that is the case then I see no reason to charge him with any wrongdoing Lord Third."

"Fugaku are you sure?"

"Our village has lost a lot today. I do not wish for it to lose anymore because of Danzo. But if that man ever comes back we will kill him on sight."

"I understand Fugaku."

"Thank you Fugaku." Tsunade said with tears in her eyes.

"Lady Tsunade, we have lost much today, and that boy, though free of guilt, will have it on his soul forevermore. I only wish to spare him anymore pain." He gave a small bow to Tsunade. "Itachi, Sasuke lets go, we have a large funeral to plan for."

The Uchiha family left the hospital. Tsunade wanted to take Naruto home but the blonde refused to leave his brothers side.

"Naruto, would you like to talk about what you saw today?"

"No mom, actually I wish that I could just forget it all."

"I understand that."

"Mom, how could someone do something so horrible?"

"It's as Jiraiya said, Danzo feels that what he did is for the betterment on the village so he did what he felt was right."

"But it was so awful and wrong."

"Yes, and that is why Danzo is forevermore an enemy of the village. He will answer for what he has done."

"Ok, thanks mom."

Tsunade began to walk away but she thought of something important.

"Naruto, about Sasuke."

"What about him mom?"

"He just witnessed the death of many of his family members. He will not admit it but he is going to need you to be there for him. You are his best friend after all. People who have seen those types of horrors have a tendency to become darker souls than before. He will need someone to help him hold on to the light."

"I understand mom. I won't let my friends down."

"I'm glad to hear it Naruto. Try to get some sleep, there will be Anbu posted all over the building tonight, so you will be safe."

"I love you mom."

"I love you too Naruto."

Naruto fell asleep, and as he slept he had the first of many nightmares that would follow in his life.

Nightmares of reawakened memories that he had long since forgotten.

…

Danzo walked down the corridors of the underground base. His root ninja followed closely behind save for one black haired pale skied boy. He had to leave the village he loved as a wanted man for the massacre of many Uchiha. But he retained his prize. And in doing so he had what was necessary to ensure the Leafs ultimate survival. But for now he would be forced to work with the worst of the Leaf's criminals.

"Danzo, I am so glad that you could make it. I had almost thought that you misplaced your invitation."

"Hello Orochimaru, you know why I have come?"

"A partnership of sorts, am I correct. Someone like you needs a partner to lean on at the moment. So sorry that things didn't work out for you in the Leaf Village."

"So you agree to my terms then. My Root joins you and you help me with my….project?"

"I would absolutely love to assist you Danzo."

Kabuto walked into the room much to Danzo's displeasure.

"I thought you were supposed to have killed that boy."

"Kabuto has served me well, my friend. I would be lost without his medical expertise. Sometimes you are wrong Danzo, and Kabuto dying was one of those mistakes.

"So be it Orochimaru, when do we begin."

Orochimaru chuckled and gave a large grin.

"Right now my friend."

…

Yamato woke up inside the white walls of the Konoha hospital. He looked around and saw Naruto asleep on the chair next to his bed. He was back in control. He was no longer under Danzo's seal. But the damage had already been done. Yamato had killed many members of the Uchiha clan and as he saw the blood of the clan members in his eyes he began to cry. Danzo had won. He had failed.

…

Thank you all for reading. Thank again to all who voted for the poll. It is now over and a new one shall take its place. The Poll for Naruto's pairing. I will not be doing a NaruSaku, NaruSasu, or NaruHina for this story. All three are heavily overdone and I want to do something different. The poll is on my profile so please vote. I was happy with the results so far but I want to know everyone's opinions on the matter. Please review, I love hearing from you guys, and it makes me want to update faster. Until next time.

Next Chapter: Family Ties: Root rising.


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, or anything associated with the manga, or anime. I only own this story.**

**Hey all, thanks for reading. I can't believe how well this story has done after 8 chapters. I finally broke 100 favorites which is a big deal for me. Thanks for the support on the last chapter, you guys make my day. Yay another update. 52 reviews, 111 favorites, 154 followers, and 9,502 views. I was also placed into my first community, "Cool Bloodlimit Crossover Naruto" Thanks for all of the support, it really means a lot to me. Never thought this story would take off the way it has.**

**Shinobi of Life: Naru Ten Ten is a pairing up for voting right now, so thanks. I'm not yet sure who I want to be paired with Sasuke, which will be one of my next polls. As for the team, I already have started the next few chapters involving the team so IT might not be the original team members as I went with the poll winner. Thanks for the review.**

**Hinote Snidget: Pairing wise, won't really affect anything until later on in the story. I want to have things set up for then. Romance will not be a huge part of the story, more like a sub plot point. The main idea of this story will stay family/friends. I chose these choices because I never see them really used and I wanted to do a different pairing than normal.**

**Chinesboy: I don't really like the idea of harems, so I apologize that this won't be one.**

**Michu-92: Yamato did have a hard time last chapter**** Thanks for the continued support.**

**Sorry That Username Is Taken: I apologize but NaruIno is not one of the pairing options. Thanks for the review, and I have to say that I love your name.**

**I'm sorry that it took so long for this update. I have been crazy busy with work and one of my best friends coming home on leave from the marines before he gets deployed so I spent allot of time with him. Then next update will come faster I promise.**

**This chapter has a time skip, though I will probably do flashbacks at some points to what happened in the interval time. Thanks for reading and please review, I really appreciate the feedback.**

**The poll for Who will be Naruto's Pairing in this story is going well. I have 27 voters so far. Warning! There will be no NaruSaku, NaruSasu, or NaruHina as they are all so overdone. As much as I enjoy the NaruHina pair, I have another story that has it already and I want to do something new, that I do not see often. The poll is now open and is on my profile. **

**Ryuuzetsu: 11**

**Ten Ten: 6**

**Kin: 4**

**Yakumo: 4**

**OC: 2**

**If you don't like who is in the lead place your vote.**

**A Hero's DNA**

**Chapter 8:** Graduation day. The Genin Exams Commence.

"Where am I?"

He opened his eyes and looked around. He was on top of a cold metal table and he wasn't wearing clothes. A bright light was on above him and the rest of the room was dark.

"Good you are awake. Now we can begin."

"My lord, are you sure? He is so young."

"You will obey me, now begin the operation!"

The child was frightened at the voices behind him. He saw a man walk up to the table wearing a facemask and a doctor's uniform.

"Daddy?" He cried.

"Don't worry my boy, it is simply time to advance yourself." The man said before he laughed.

He watched as the doctor's hands began to glow green. As his hands moved closer to the boy's skin the doctor looked at him with saddened eyes.

"Forgive me child."

He felt his skin being spliced open and he cried out in hysterical pain.

…

Naruto awoke and sat up in his bed covered in sweat. He felt the pain in his arm from the dream. They had been plaguing his sleep for the past four years, ever since the day of the Uchiha Massacre. They didn't come every night but they frequently thwarted his attempts at a good night's rest. No one knew about them though, except for Sasuke. Even after all the young Uchiha had gone through he still managed to keep his friendship alive.

Naruto looked over to his clock and saw that it was close to four in the morning. He contemplated trying to go back to sleep, but figured it wasn't worth the risk of oversleeping again. Iruka sensei had already spoken to him about his lateness tendency enough times to know that it wasn't a good habit to get into. Naruto got out of bed and looked at his calendar, it was the day of the Genin Exams, and he was finally ready to graduate and become a real ninja. He walked over to his mirror and looked at his reflection. His hair was slightly longer than normal, not the usual short spikey look he went with. He had decided to grow it out like his father had. He looked at his muscles and noted that they had always been slightly more defined than the other kids his age, and he didn't have to actively work to keep it that way, though he still worked as hard as he could. He knew that it was because of whatever Orochimaru had done to him and he didn't want that to be an excuse to not work hard.

He walked over to his closet and pit on some training clothes and went outside to his personal training field. He started working out with his warm up routine of pushups, sit-ups, pull ups, and other exercises. Then he ran a few miles to keep up his stamina, which again he found that he almost never seemed to run out of it. He continued with his Taijutsu form training, which was a combination of a style his mother taught him favoring chakra enhanced blows, Jiraiya's toad style, and his own personal twist he threw in. It came out to a fairly strong and unpredictable style that on the surface seemed extremely flawed and unbalanced but he always said that it would just confuse his opponents.

After about an hour of physical training Naruto decided to sit and practice concentrating on his chakra control. He had begun studying with Tsunade on Medical Ninjutsu, and while we wasn't the best in the class he found that it was uniquely calming for him. He focused chakra into his hands and began to rub his burning muscles and felt the pain begin to slowly fade away. HE was glad that Tsunade taught them that trick.

Knowing that he only had about an hour left to train before he had to get ready for the exams he decided to meditate. Even to this day it still seemed to center him into the world around him and alleviate all of his pent up stress. As he meditated he began to notice the familiar feeling of connecting with the nature around him. He loved being able to feel the grass in the wind and the rustling leaves of the trees. Lately he had also been able to sense other forms of life due to their Chakra. He didn't tell anyone about it because he didn't know what they would think about it. As he meditated he felt someone approaching his and he opened his eyes.

"Hey Yamato."

"Naruto what are you doing out here so early?"

"I couldn't sleep." He answered simply.

"Are you too excited for today?"

"Yeah." HE lied.

Yamato sat down next to the blonde and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"I know your lying to me, I know that you have been having nightmares about Orochimaru."

Naruto's eyes opened quickly and he turned to his brother. Yamato wasn't meeting his gaze and Naruto could swear that he saw his brothers green eyes moisten.

"How do you know that?"

"Because I have them too Naruto."

"You do?"

"Yeah, their terrifying aren't they?" Yamato asked.

"I still can't believe that he actually did those things to me." Naruto answered.

"Naruto, I'm sorry."

"For what Yamato?"

"I know that the past few years I have been rather distant from you. From everyone actually."

"It's ok, I understand." Naruto tried to assure him.

"No it's not ok Naruto. When we were first met in Orochimaru's lab I promised to protect you, however I could. And then Tsunade adopted us and I knew that I had found my way of doing that. But after what I did to the Uchiha clan…"

"You didn't, Danzo was controlling you Yamato." Naruto stood up and said quickly trying not to break in front of Yamato.

"I know that Naruto, but I still saw everything. My body taking the lives of the villagers I had sworn to protect, I haven't been able to face Itachi, Sasuke, or any of their clan since then. But worst of all I couldn't face you, my brother. And for the past four years I have been taking every long term mission that I could in Anbu so that I could just stay behind that mask and not have to. And Naruto that was wrong of me. I'm sorry." Yamato pulled Naruto into a hug and the two brothers cried together, from sadness, anger, and finally a slight happiness of knowing that they would be closer.

"Naruto look at me. If you ever need to talk about your dreams, let me know. I will be here to help you now. You don't have to face it alone anymore."

"Ok Yamato, I will." Naruto said smiling back to his brother.

"Now go shower and get ready, the exams will be starting soon." Yamato said as Naruto smiled and turned away. As he turned Yamato could have sworn he saw a strange flicker in his brother's eyes, but he pushed the thought away.

…

Naruto headed out his front door dressed and ready for the test. He wore pair of black shinobi pants with the leg cut off after the knee on the right side, a pair of black combat boots, a dark orange sleeveless shirt with a forest green sleeveless jacket zipped up halfway over top of it. His right leg had bandages on it below the knee, shuriken, and kunai holsters on both legs and he had scrolls lining his green jackets front. Finally he had Black finger less gloves on both hands and small seal like tattoos on his wrists. He remembered trying to purchase a bright orange jumpsuit and having his mother almost kill him for his stupidity in her eyes.

As he was walking towards the academy, Naruto noticed that he was coming up on the Uchiha compound and Sasuke was leaning against the wall waiting for him. Sasuke was wearing Black shorts and black sandals with bandages on his legs. His black shirt was one of his signature high color shirts with the Uchiha fan on the back. Sasuke also had his kunai, and shuriken holster in his right leg and a small pouch on his left.

"Hey Sasuke, you been waiting long."

"You take forever idiot, I almost left without you."

"Whatever you say Uchiha."

Sasuke just rolled his eyes and the two started walking. Ever since the attack on his clan, Sasuke had been slightly darker in Naruto's eyes. Right after it happened Naruto had to fight him to try and snap him out of a severe personality change. The last thing he wanted was for his best friend to turn into a revenge obsessed jerk.

"So you ready for the exams Sasuke?"

"Do you even have to ask?"

"Just trying ti start up a conversation."

"I just hope those annoying girls fail."

Naruto laughed at the mention of Sasuke's fan club. For some reason the Uchiha boy had quite a few girls who always chased after his affection, though it was never returned. Naruto also had a small following, though most people were afraid of him because of Yamato. Many of the civilians in the village hated the boy who was spared even though he murdered many Uchiha.

"So do you think Shikamaru will actually try to pass?"

"Knowing that lazy ass, he will probably do the minimal work he can."

"Not if I have anything to do will it." Naruto stated.

"Don't do anything stupid Naruto."

"Who said anything about being stupid, I was just gonna make sure he was not napping on the job." Naruto aid as he pulled out one of his Fuinjutsu books.

Sasuke just rolled his eyes and smirked as they approached the Ninja academy. The two friends entered their classroom to the sound of screeching girls.

"It's Sasuke!"

"Sasuke I love you!"

The Uchiha will be mine."

"Naruto please be mine!"

"Get away from my man you tramp!"

They walked passed the girls and sat in their seats. Naruto looked around and he saw his friends sitting down around the room. Kiba had his dog Akamaru with him of course. Shikamaru was sleeping in his corner seat. Shino as usual was sitting silently not moving and looking forward. And Choji was eating some barbeque chips.

Naruto looked around and saw Hinata sitting behind him and reading over a book on advanced chakra control. She had been in the medical class with Naruto and he knew she was one of the best. HE also saw two other girls from his medical classes. The first was Sakura Haruno a, pink haired girl with a slightly larger forehead, who was the top medic in his class. Tsunade had talked about even taking the girl as an apprentice, depending on her ability as a Genin first. The second was Ino Yamanaka, a blonde haired girl with green eyes, who was pretty good with medical jutsu, but better with her families mind jutsu. Finally there was Sai, a pale boy who always seemed to be watching him. The boy was still a mystery to Naruto even after all these years.

"All right class settle down." Iruka said as he walked in alongside Mizuki. "I would like to tell you all that I'm proud to have been your teacher and that I wish you all the best of luck on your exam. Your test will be split into four parts, each worth twenty-five percent of your final grade. You must pass with a sixty or better, though I would advise you not do that badly on these examinations as they will affect how you are seen by other ninja. We will start with the written portion of the exams."

Iruka and Mizuki went around the room and handed out the tests to everyone. They were given two hours to complete the fifty question test. Naruto was answering question after question rather fast, happy that Tsunade had pressured him to study so hard while growing in her care.

"Question 15: What are the five Chakra elements? Fire, Wind, Lightning, Earth, Water."

"Question 36: Who leads the Village Hidden in the Mist: The Mizukage."

"Question 50: What is the name of the shinobi art that uses calligraphy, and chakra to create powerful seals? Fuinjutsu."

When Naruto finished he stood up and brought his test to Iruka, who smiled at him as he left. Naruto was the fourth person to finish the test behind Sakura, Shikamaru, Shino, and Sai. When he made it outside he decided to it next to Shikamaru, who was currently performing his greatest pastime.

"How are the clouds today Shikamaru?"

"Same as everyday Naruto."

"So did you actually take the test or just walk out?"

"My mom threated me if I didn't take it and ace it."

"That's good, I almost thought I would have to do that."

Shikamaru just smiled as they waited for everyone to be finished. After the two hours had passed and the tests were all graded Iruka came outside and led them to a series sparring rings with Chunin standing in them.

"Your second test is a Taijutsu test. You will spar with a Chunin for five minutes as they try to knock you out of the ring. You will be graded on how long you stay in the ring. Your defense, your offense, and overall effectiveness."

All of the Genin walked to their respective Chunin instructor. Naruto stood in the ring across from his tester.

"Begin."

"Naruto stood as the Chunin rushed him. He knew that he couldn't match the Chunin's experience in combat or speed so he tried a different tactic. The ninja swung at his face and Naruto backed away and as he did he drew back his fist. The Chunin tried to kick Naruto in the stomach but he flipped over him and punched the ground hard causing a small crack and tripping up the attacker and giving Naruto an opening. Something about the fight seemed off so he began to analyze the situation.

"No academy student could hope to match a Chunin, and no Chunin would be so easily stumbled by a mere student. Even one with a great Taijutsu capacity. Iruka sensei always says to see underneath the underneath….I wonder." Naruto brought his hands into the tiger hand sign. "Release!"

The Chunin on the ground in front of him vanished from sight and as he looked around he saw that most of the students were fighting the air. Only a few others had dispelled the Genjustu, including Sasuke, a brown haired girl he didn't remember from class, Hinata, and Sakura. Iruka approached Naruto.

"Good job seeing through the Genjustu Naruto. It didn't take you that long at all. We had observed your Taijutsu form and we were impressed good job Naruto. Now head out with the others and wait for us."

"Ok Iruka sensei, thanks."

Naruto approached the brown haired girl. She wore a light pink bathrobe style kimono with a Navy blue ninja suit underneath it.

"Hello, who are you?"

"Um…I'm Yakumo. Yakumo Kurama."

"I'm Naruto Senju-Namikaze. How come I've never seen you around here before?"

"Oh…um…I just started today. I've had one on one training with my sensei before this."

"Cool, well glad to have you here Yakumo."

"Thank you Naruto." She said with a small smile.

The rest of the students began to filter through with scratches and bruises.

"Ok, as some of you figured out this test was also a Genjustu test, so congratulations to those of you who figured it out. Now on to the third test. Weapons throwing. You will be given five shuriken and five kunai. Each ring on the targets count in a point sequence. The bull's-eye is worth five and subtract one point per outside ring. How about you start Kiba."

Kiba went first and after a short bragging session he managed to score a 36, much to his dismay and everyone else's pleasure. Next went a boy Naruto had never actually spoken too named Akihiko. He scored a 47 and walked away with a smile. Eventually it was Sasuke's turn and the Uchiha managed to score a perfect fifty. Next was Naruto and when he picked up his kunai he noticed that they were only slightly off balance. He adjusted his throw and aim and tied Sasuke's perfect score.

"Good job everyone, now we have one more test. For your Ninjutsu test we will call you in one by one and you will perform the clone jutsu, the replacement jutsu, and the transformation jutsu, as well as one jutsu of your own choice. Afterwards we will tell you if you passed or failed. Good luck to each and every one of you, I am very happy with all of your performances so far."

Naruto sat and watched as each of his classmates went into the room and came out with their Leaf headband. He was nervous for passing this final test, and he wanted to make his mother and brother proud. He wondered if his real parents were watching him right now, proud of his trying to become a shinobi like they were.

"Sasuke Uchiha!"

Sasuke stood up and walked towards the door.

"Kick ass Sasuke."

"Sasuke just smirked at his friend and entered the room. After a few minutes Sasuke came back out with his headband around his forehead.

"Yay Sasuke did it!" His fan girls began to shout.

Naruto pushed passed them walked up to his friend.

"Great job Sasuke."

"Now it's your turn Naruto."

"Naruto Senju, Namikaze!"

His name was called. Naruto walked passed Sasuke to go into the room.

"You got this Naruto."

"See ya on the other side Uchiha."

The doors closed behind him and Naruto walked up to Iruka and Mizuki's desks.

"Ok Naruto, start with the Transformation Jutsu." Iruka told him.

"Transform!" Naruto turned into a carbon copy clone of Iruka, perfect even to the scar across his nose.

"Great job Naruto. Now the Replacement jutsu."

Naruto channeled chakra through his body and switched spots in the room with a nearby chair in time to dodge a blunt kunai thrown by Mizuki.

"Good Naruto, but a little bit of a close call." Iruka said. "Now let's see your clones."

"Iruka sensei is it alright if I do a different type of clone?"

"Why do you ask Naruto?"

He thought back to what Jiraiya had told him when he taught him this new technique.

"My chakra reserves are too high for me to form a proper clone, so I have a more advanced clone jutsu."

"Ok then go ahead Naruto."

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

Several copies of Naruto appeared in the room. Instead of being ethereal like clones these were actual solid copies of himself.

"Amazing Naruto, this is an extremely advanced jutsu."

"Ok then now we just need to see one other jutsu Naruto." Mizuki said to him.

"Ok." Naruto made a few hand signs and then shouted out. "Water Style: Drilling Water Bullet Jutsu!"

Naruto shot a burst of water out of his mouth towards a small training dummy that crashed into it and tore the dummy from its post.

"Very impressive Naruto, I didn't know you had a water affinity." Iruka said to him.

"Actually I don't know if I do. I've never tested it before."

"Well regardless, Naruto Senju-Namikaze, I am proud to say you passed at the top of the class alongside Sasuke Uchiha. Here is your headband. You are now a Genin of Konoha.

"Thank you Iruka sensei, Mizuki sensei."

Naruto walked out of the doors as he put on his new headband. Sasuke stood waiting for him and when he saw Naruto's headband he smiled. They waited for everyone else to finish the test before they started walking towards the exit.

"So everyone passed."

"It looks that way." Sasuke said.

"And we passed at the top." Naruto added.

"Did you ever think we wouldn't?" Sasuke asked with fake egocentrism.

"Shut up Uchiha."

"You first Namikaze."

The two friends walked together out of the school. They saw Itachi and Yamato standing together outside and both brothers had boxes in their hands.

"Itachi, what are you doing here?" Sasuke asked.

"You too Yamato?" Naruto asked as well.

"Well we had a sneaky feeling that you guys would pass with flying colors." Yamato started.

"And we got word from Iruka that you two passed at the top with near perfect scores." Itachi continued.

"193 out of 200 is amazing." Yamato said proudly.

"So we got you two a gift." Itachi finished.

"What is it?" Naruto asked.

Yamato and Itachi gave their respective brothers their boxes, the two boys opened them up to find Chokuto swords, with sheaths and belts.

"Wow, this is awesome!" Naruto exclaimed.

"Itachi this is great." Sasuke thanked his brother.

"They were made from special metal that allow you to channel your chakra into them." Yamato explained.

"It makes them very valuable and very deadly, so don't play with them like toys. These are real swords and now that I am no longer Anbu Captain I can train you with them." Itachi said.

"What do you mean Itachi?" Sasuke asked.

"I decided to step down from Anbu. I want a different challenge now." Itachi explained.

"And he made me the new Captain." Yamato said to Naruto who looked to his brother proudly.

"We had better get you two home so that our parents can congratulate you guys." Itachi said to Naruto and Sasuke.

"See ya Sasuke."

"Later Naruto."

And the two Genin went their separate ways with the same thoughts on their mind.

"Who will be on my team?"

…

Thanks everyone for reading. The poll for Naruto's pairing will continue for a while. Please vote and review. I will not be doing a NaruSaku, NaruSasu, or NaruHina for this story.


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, or anything associated with the manga, or anime. I only own this story.**

**Hey everyone, thanks for stopping back in to read this chapter. This story has more than surpassed my expectations for it, so thanks to everyone for reading. Thanks for the support on the last chapter. 56 reviews, 114 favorites, 157 followers, and 10,865 views. 1 community.**

**Tobi Wants a Cookie: Thanks for the review, and yes swords for everyone.**

**Lucianourg: I'm not sure if Haku is going to be a female in this story so that pairing will not be in the poll. Thanks for the review.**

**Butterflypuss: Thank you for reviewing, I will try to keep it good.**

**Jhonie: I still haven't decided on Naruto with Mokuton or not yet, but I'm really considering it. Yamato hasn't fully mastered every aspect of it yet, so Mokuton could still be a further bonding experience for the two. Yamato and Naruto will have plenty more bonding experiences coming up.**

**On a separate note, I am absolutely horrible at drawing, and have no talent in that form of art. I would like to ask if anyone is willing to draw a cover for this story. If so please either review, or pm me. Thanks for the help.**

**This chapter will reveal the third member of squad 7 as voted on during the poll. I would like to thank everyone who voted. The results, if you would like to see them, will be shown after the end of this chapter. Thanks for reading and please review, I really appreciate the feedback.**

**The poll for Who will be Naruto's Pairing in this story is going well. I have 35 voters so far. I decided to end this poll on July 7****th****. Warning! There will be no NaruSaku, NaruSasu, or NaruHina as they are all so overdone. As much as I enjoy the NaruHina pair, I have another story that has it already and I want to do something new, that I do not see often. The poll is now open and is on my profile. **

**Ryuuzetsu: 14**

**Ten Ten: 9**

**Yakumo: 6**

**Kin: 4**

**OC: 2**

**If you don't like who is in the lead place your vote.**

**A Hero's DNA**

**Chapter 9: Genin Formation: Squad 7 revealed.**

When he got back to his house, Naruto opened the front door and walked in alongside Yamato. Tsunade and Shizune were waiting for the two of them to arrive and Tsunade had a big smile on her face. When she saw him, Tsunade ran up and pulled Naruto into her arms. 

"I am so proud of you, you know that!"

"Mom come on. It's not that big of a deal."

You pass the Genin Exams at the top of your class, tied with an Uchiha, and you don't think it's a big deal? Naruto you passed with a better score than I did." She said to him.

"Really, I thought you were one of the top kunoichi in your class."

"I was, but my scores were still lower than yours. You definitely kicked Shizune's scores to the curb."

"I'm sitting right here you know." Shizune said rolling her eyes.

"Well what about Yamato mom. He is gonna be the new Anbu Captain of his squad."

Tsunade looked over to Yamato with big eyes. She had no idea.

"Yamato, is that true?"

"Yeah but it isn't that big of a deal." He said rubbing the back of his head.

"How do you figure?"

"Well I'm 19 right now. Kakashi Hatake my former captain became one when he was younger than me. And Itachi was a captain at 13. It isn't that great of an achievement compared to them."

"Yamato don't sell yourself short. You are powerful, intelligent, and I know that you will be an amazing captain. Next time tell me."

"Sorry Tsunade."

Tsunade was slightly disappointed that Yamato still wouldn't call her mom. She knew that he had always been a little uncomfortable with it, but she had hoped he would let go and he wasn't. At least he stopped referring to her as Lady Tsunade though. Thinking back to the day she first adopted the two boys Tsunade couldn't believe how much she had grown to care for both of them. Naruto was outgoing, intelligent, and wore his heart on his sleeve. Yamato though was far more reserved. He kept to himself most of the time, especially since the massacre. He was distant to everyone except Naruto, and Itachi. But when she saw him when he didn't think anyone watched she saw a man filled with love for all things in Nature. She felt that he was more at him in the trees that he was at the compound, and she knew that he was so much more than he let on. She only wished that he would show his true self, always.

"Well Naruto I have a few things for you now that you are a Genin. And there are a couple other people here as well."

Hiruzen and Jiraiya walked in alongside Kakashi. They all had smiles on their faces and they sat in the room next to the others.

"Congratulations Naruto, I hope to see the will of fire burn brightly in you."

"Good job kid. Your dad would have been so proud. Your mom too."

"I was impressed to hear about your scores Naruto, top of the class. My sensei would have been so excited to hear that."

Naruto was happy as he sat with all his loved ones and they talked about his future as a ninja of Konoha. He couldn't help but think about how things would have been if his parents had been alive, but he wouldn't have the family he had now if they were, so he was torn. He figure he would be happy with what he had, and he would keep his birth parents alive in his heart.

"Well kid, we all have some things for you. I'll go first." Jiraiya said. "Here go Naruto."

Jiraiya handed the blonde a scroll. Naruto opened it up and found a seal, so he put his chakra into it. In its placed was a large set of sealing materials. And three large books on Fuinjutsu. There was also a small journal next to the other books.

"That paper is specialized chakra paper made to enhance the power of seals. The ink was made from Mt. Myoboku, like the seals I placed on your wrists. It is extremely powerful ink and once applied, the seal is permanent. Most people would use this for seal tattoos. Both of those materials are extremely valuable and hard to come by, so be careful with them. The books were actually a set that I managed to secure before they were destroyed. They were written by the Uzumaki clan, before they were wiped out. You will learn more from those than you ever would from me. Finally that journal was written by your father, Minato Namikaze. It is all of his notes on seals that I could find. I would read the first book at least before messing with your dads notes."

Naruto stood up and ran to hug Jiraiya.

"Thank you uncle Jiraiya. This means a lot to me."

"I know kid. Just don't go becoming a better seal master than me too quickly, it might hurt my pride." He laughed.

"My turn then Naruto." Hiruzen stated as he pulled out a small box. "These belonged to your parents, and I think they would have wanted you to have them."

Naruto opened the box and found too headbands inside, one with the leaf insignia and the other with a swirled insignia.

"The leaf headband was your fathers. And the other is the last item your mother had of her parents. It was the headband of Uzushiogakure. I thought that you would want them."

Naruto tried not to cry as he held the headbands in his hands. He had something of theirs now and he never wanted to be without them. He took his fathers and tied it around his right arm, and tied his mother's around his left.

"There, now I have them by my side." Naruto hugged Hiruzen tightly. "Thank you Lord Hokage."

"Now, now, there is no need for these formalities Naruto."

"I am simply showing you the respect you have always deserved from me."

"Thank you Naruto."

Kakashi stepped forward.

"This isn't much but, your father gave it to me when I was younger. He promised to always protect me when he did, so…" He pulled out a three pronged kunai and gave it to Naruto."…I promise to protect you, Naruto, in remembrance of my sensei, Minato Namikaze."

"Thank you so much Kakashi." Naruto was awestruck at the gifts he had been given today. It was truly an honor to him, to have so many great loved ones.

"Yamato thank you for the sword, again."

"Sword?" Tsunade asked slightly worried.

"Yamato gave me a chakra conducting Chokuto." Naruto told her.

"Yamato, do you know how expensive those are?" She asked completely astonished.

"Well, I have been performing more missions lately, and I saved up for it. I think my brother is worth it." He said smiling towards Naruto.

"Ok my turn!" Shizune said excitedly. "It's not as flashy as everyone else's but here you go."

Naruto opened the box she handed him, and found a new pair of gloves. These had a metal plate on them with carved in seals.

"The right hand hold a set of poisons that you can use with your weapons. The left holds the antidotes, to them as well as other poisons I have come across. You can never be too careful right."

"Thank you sis."

Shizune rolled her eyes at the nickname Naruto had given her several years ago. Tsunade was the final person left so she pulled out three medium sized boxes and handed them to Naruto. He opened the first box to find two sets of kunai, shuriken, and senbon needles. As he picked them up he found that there was a slight weight discrepancy between the two sets.

"The first set are regular weapons, the second like your sword, conduct chakra."

When he opened the second box he pulled out several scrolls. He unsealed the first scroll and found an exact copy of his current outfit.

"All the scrolls contain the same clothes. These are more reinforced than your current attire. Better for ninja work."

Naruto opened the third and final box to find a few books on human anatomy. All of them written by Tsunade.

"I am not sure if you are planning on continuing your medical training or not, but these will teach you skills and knowledge that will suit you well as a shinobi. You would do well to memorize them."

Naruto couldn't help but pulling Tsunade into another hug. He was so ecstatic about everything at the moment he could barely contain himself. He though that he would explode.

"Thank you for everything mom. I can't fully show you how much I really appreciate it. And of course I'm going to continue my medical training. I might not be amazing at it, but I want to learn as much as I can."

"Then I will just have to make sure you do."

"I love you mom."

"I love you too Naruto."

…

Yamato waited until after everyone had left to grab Tsunade and pull her aside.

"What's on your mind Yamato?"

"I know that this might not be easy, but now that Naruto is a Genin, I think that it's time for me to find a place of my own."

Tsunade knew that this topic would be brought up, but part of her didn't want him to actually leave. She knew how much she, and Naruto would miss having him around.

"Are you sure Yamato?"

"Yes, I need to find my own path now. I love you and Naruto, but I need to find myself now. I will still be here for both of you, and of course I still want to help Naruto but I believe that this is the right time."

Tsunade fought back tears, and she walked over to a small desk. She opened it up and pulled out a set of keys.

"I knew that this would be coming soon. Here, these are keys to a house a few doors down. If you want to continue living in the clan compound, then the house will be yours."

"Are you sure?"

"You are my son, and by birth or not, you are a Senju. I would want nothing more than for you to live in this compound."

"Thank you Tsunade." Yamato said as he pulled her into a hug. Tsunade didn't let him see her frown.

"You have to tell Naruto though."

"I will, after his test. I don't want to cloud his mind."

"Ok, good."

…

Naruto sat on his floor and meditated. He had spoken to everyone that he cared about except for one. As he meditated he felt himself go into his mind scape. He sat in front the large cell, in the sewer, that contained Kurama.

"**Hello Kit."**

"Hey Kurama."

"**I see that you passed your Genin Exams, good job, but I hope you don't think your home free yet."**

"I don't Kurama, I know that there is more to come." Naruto looked around and frowned. "This place is so dark, and wet. How can you stand it in here Kurama?"

"**Well no one has really cared about my living conditions before, so I am fairly used to it Kit."**

"Kurama, you know that I want you to be comfortable in here. Is there anything that I can do to help?"

"**Kit, this is your mindscape. If you wanted to change it, you could."**

"Really?"

Naruto closed his eyes and pictured the room he was in right now. Kurama watched with fascination as the bricks that held the room together began to fly away from the wall, each one releasing light into the dark and dreary room. The wet ground began to evaporate away and was replaced by blades of grass that emerged from the cracking floor. The bars in front of him began to disappear and he felt a collar form around his neck. Once all of the bricks had been pulled away, Kurama had to shield his eyes from the blinding light. Once he finally looked he saw a wide open field with a large forest to one side and a lake to the other. He was astonished at how peaceful and serene everything looked.

"Is this better Kurama?"

"**Kit, this is….I…..thank you Naruto."**

Naruto smiled up at the happy towering fox in front of him. He suddenly felt very tired though so he decided to cut this visit short.

"Well Kurama, tomorrow I find out what my team will be so, I'm gonna get some sleep."

"**Ok Kit, I'll be enjoying myself a little more**." Kurama said as he ran into the forest.

Naruto shook his head and left his mind scape. It didn't take him long at all to fall asleep.

…

The next day Naruto sat in his chair alongside Sasuke waiting for everyone else to show up. The two talked about what happened at each other's homes after graduation. Naruto was currently admiring his sword, while Sasuke looked his over as well.

"Hey Naruto, Sasuke, you guys are here already."

Naruto looked over to see a yawning Shikamaru walk in with Choji.

"Hey guys."

"Whatcha got there Naruto." Choji asked as he pulled out some chips.

"Oh Itachi, and Yamato got me and Sasuke chokuto's." He answered.

"That's cool." Choji replied.

"So you guys are gonna learn some kenjutsu, what a drag. As if you guys aren't strong enough already."

"You're just jealous Nara." Sasuke jabbed jokingly.

"Of you Uchiha, you wish." Shikamaru replied.

More Genin began to filter their way into the room as they waited for Iruka to show up.

"Hi Sasuke, Hi Naruto."

Naruto looked up to find Sakura Haruno walking towards the two of them. He was glad that she wasn't one of those annoying fan girls of his and Sasuke's, even more so knowing her skills in medical Ninjutsu. He also noticed that her normally long hair had been cut.

"Hey Sakura, what's up? Did you cut your hair?"

"Yeah, I figured that it would be easier to work, and train without worrying about it getting tangled in things. Why do you have on three headbands Naruto?"

"Yeah, I was wondering that myself." Shikamaru added in.

"Well, this one belonged to my father Minato Namikaze, and the other to my mother Kushina Uzumaki."

"So why wear all three?" She asked.

"These ones so I have my parents with me and this one is to show myself the rewards of all of my hard work. I earned this Headband, so it is mine to wear."

Shikamaru, and Sakura nodded at the response in understanding.

"Sakura, I assume that you easily detected that Genjustu right?" Sasuke asked the pink haired girl. 

"Uh…yeah Sasuke, why do you ask?"

"I was just making sure. You always were the best of us at Genjustu. I figured it wouldn't have tripped you up."

"Thanks Sasuke."

Naruto looked at the clock and saw that they had roughly five minutes before Iruka would be there. The door opened again and Naruto watched as the black haired Akihiko walked in. He had never really spoken to the guy so he figured he might as well say hello. Akihiko wore dark brown shinobi pants with a white shirt and a dark red jacket over top.

"Hey, Akihiko right?"

"Yes Akihiko Minori. Why do ask?"

"I just figured I would say hi, and congratulate you on passing."

"Thanks, but it was unnecessary. You are of the elite shinobi families, and I of the civilian peasantry. It is beneath you to associate yourself with me."

"Umm, what are you talking about?"

"It is simple, you're the son of the honorable fourth Hokage, hero of the village, and adopted son of Tsunade Senju, medical expert from a clan considered almost royalty in this village. I come from a lower rate family, and you consorting with me would look bad upon you."

"I don't care about those things Akihiko."

"You have never spoken to me before, why would you start now?" He said simply.

Naruto didn't know how to respond and before he could Iruka walked into the room.

"Ok everyone please take your seats."

Naruto walked back over to Sasuke, still confused by Akihiko's reaction. Iruka waited until everyone sat and he smiled up at the class.

"I would like to start by saying how proud I am of each and every one of you. You have surpassed my expectations and I would like to wish you luck as you join the ninja world. I ask that you all continue to look underneath the underneath and follow the will of fire. The will of fire is what makes our village so strong and as long as you all continue to work together you can overcome any obstacle in your way."

Everyone silently sat and took in Iruka's words, showing their teacher their respect.

"I will now read off the team rosters. Your Jonin sensei will be by shortly to meet with you. Squad 1…."

Naruto listened as each team of three was called. He wondered who would be on his Squad, but as long as Sasuke was one of them he would be happy.

"Squad six will be Hinata Hyuga, Kiba Inuzuka, and Sai."

Hinata looked over to Kiba, who smiled back at her and gave her a thumbs up, and Sai who kept his face neutral to the situation.

"Squad 7 will be Naruto Senju-Namikaze, Sasuke Uchiha, and Yakumo Kurama."

Naruto looked over to Sasuke and the two friends smiled at each other. He remembered the brown haired girl he met the previous day and looked over to her. She had a slight smile on her face but mostly she just looked nervous. Sasuke scoffed at the fan girls who all groaned from the reveal of Sasuke's team.

"Squad 8 will be Sakura Haruno, Shino Aburame, and Akihiko Minori."

Sakura looked around for her teammates and saw Shino silently looking forward, and she thought she saw a bug flying around his head. Akihiko simply nodded at the assigned team and readied himself for the life of a shinobi.

Squad 10 will be Shikamaru Nara, Choji Akimichi, and Ino Yamanaka."

Shikamaru realized that they were basically copying the team formation of their parents, who had been fairly well known, so he guesses it was a tactical decision. Choji was happy with his team and continued munching on chips. Ino was slightly depressed at the realization that her teammates were the laziest kid in class and the one who never stopped eating, but since she knew of their strong clans she got over it quickly.

"I am proud of all of you. Continue to be the best shinobi you can be." Iruka bowed slightly before he left the room and the Genin got into their respective teams.

"Squad 7 you're with me."

Naruto, Sasuke and Yakumo looked to the door to see their new sensei. Naruto and Sasuke raised their eyes as they saw…

…

**Cliffhanger….sorry. Brownie points to anyone who can correctly guess who I chose as their Jonin teacher. Thanks to everyone for reading the chapter, I hope that you enjoyed it. Below are the final results of the poll for the third member of squad 7, if you wanted to see the results. Please review, I loved hearing your thoughts on my writing.**

**Next time, Squad 7's test: teamwork inaction. **

**Poll Results. Third member of Squad 7.**

**Yakumo Kurama: 24**

**Hinata Hyuga: 23**

**Shikamaru Nara: 21**

**Ino Yamanaka: 8**

**Sai: 7**

**Shino Aburame: 6**

**Sakura Haruno: 5**

**OC: 5**

**Choji Akimichi: 1**

**Kiba Inuzuka: 1**

**Other: 0**

**Voters: 56**


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, or anything associated with the manga, or anime. I only own this story.**

**Hey everyone, thanks for stopping back in to read this chapter. This story has more than surpassed my expectations for it, so thanks to everyone for reading. Thanks for the support on the last chapter. 65 reviews, 130 favorites, 180 followers, and 13,798 views. 1 community.**

**InflatedChimp: I'm glad you thought of this story, and yes the poll was very close. It caught me by surprise and I had to map out 3 different ways this story could have gone. Im glad it went this way though.**

**Tobi Wants a Cookie: Yeah, I know it's not a big deal, but it will have some impact on his relationship with Naruto, which is a main part of this story.**

**Pikechris990: I'm not overly fond of Harem style romances, which is why I don't want multiple pairings for Naruto. I agree though that it is a hard choice.**

**Butterflypuss: Thanks for guessing. You will see if you are right soon. Thanks for reviewing.**

**Michu-92: Yeah Shikamaru came in third…sorry. I hope you continue to like the story though. Thanks for the review.**

**Uzumaki Naho: A lot of people wanted Shikamaru, and the win wasn't by very much at all. I'm sorry if that disappoints you at all. Sasuke and Naruto will keep a strong friendship throughout this story, though like all friendships there will be ups and downs. As for whether or not he leaves. You will find out, though that won't be for a while. **

**Altadinata: I wasn't sure if this was a good or bad review….but thanks for reviewing anyway. I appreciate it. Hope to hear from you again.**

**Guest: Thanks for the review.**

**Guest: not sure what "YK" meant but thanks for the review.**

**On a separate note, I am absolutely horrible at drawing, and have no talent in that form of art. I would like to ask if anyone is willing to draw a cover for this story. If so please either review, or pm me. Thanks for the help.**

**This chapter will reveal the Jonin sensei of squad 7, as well as their test. Thanks for reading and please review, I really appreciate the feedback.**

**The poll for Who will be Naruto's Pairing in this story is going well. I have 47 voters so far. I decided to end this poll on July 7****th****. Warning! There will be no NaruSaku, NaruSasu, or NaruHina as they are all so overdone. As much as I enjoy the NaruHina pair, I have another story that has it already and I want to do something new, that I do not see often. The poll is now open and is on my profile. **

**Ryuuzetsu: 19**

**Ten Ten: 12**

**Yakumo: 8**

**Kin: 6**

**OC: 2**

**If you don't like who is in the lead place your vote.**

**A Hero's DNA**

**Chapter 10: Squad 7's test: Teamwork Inaction.**

"I am proud of all of you. Continue to be the best shinobi you can be." Iruka bowed slightly before he left the room and the Genin got into their respective teams.

"Squad 7 you're with me."

Naruto, Sasuke and Yakumo looked to the door to see their new sensei. Naruto and Sasuke raised their eyes as they saw Itachi Uchiha walk into the room. He was wearing the traditional Leaf Jonin uniform, except his shirt was all black with the Uchiha fan symbol on both shoulders. Sasuke was shocked to say the least. He never figured that his older brother would be their Squad's Jonin sensei.

"How about you three meet me outside in say, three minutes." He nodded to the Genin and burst into a murder of crows.

"Whoa, we definitely got the coolest sensei to say the least. Wouldn't you agree Sasuke?" Naruto said to his friend.

"Yeah….but….why?"

"Are you complaining?"

"No. I just wasn't expecting my brother to be my sensei."

"Hey, you guys?" Yakumo spoke up. "Maybe we shouldn't be late meeting with sensei."

Naruto and Sasuke agreed and the three made their way outside. Naruto looked at the clock above the exit and they had just made it on time. Itachi stood outside and he looked slightly disappointed.

"Well, we're here Itachi." Sasuke announced.

"Right on time as well, so you're late. And you will address me as sensei, Sasuke." Itachi told him with a slightly cold stare.

"What, how are we late Itachi, you said three minutes?" Naruto asked.

"Again, you three shall address me as sensei while I am you're teacher Naruto. And I want you to be in the habit of showing up early. I said three minutes to see if you would just follow the order or take the initiative to be early. Obviously I found out my answer." He coldly replied.

"Excuse me sensei, but how were we supposed to know that?" Yakumo asked.

"It is called seeing underneath the underneath, Yakumo Kurama. As you well know, my little brother and his best friend are on this squad. As such they should know that I expect nothing but the best from them. Slacking off will not impress me in the slightest."

"Itachi why are you acting like this?" Sasuke asked as he started to get angry.

"Yeah the Itachi we knew would never act like this towards us."

"So you think that you are ready to be Genin, though you cannot even follow a simple command by your sensei. I have told you to call me sensei, and two of you obviously are incapable of listening. Therefore none of you will be Genin. I hereby strip you of all rank, and ban you from returning ti the academy!" As he said this his eye flashed red and he caught the gaze of all three Genin.

…

Naruto walked away completely confused and angry. His dream was being taken from him and he didn't understand why. Yeah he didn't completely listen to Itachi, but it was just something he needed to get used to. As he walked he saw Ichiraku's in front of him. The place had become his one true vice and he was starving. He felt like maybe if he got some ramen he could think better. As he approached he heard foot steps behind him.

"Hey Naruto, you came here too?"

Sasuke and Yakumo were approaching him.

"Sasuke? What are you doing here, you hate ramen?"

"I figured we three could talk and see what exactly we did wrong."

"That sounds like a good plan." Yakumo agreed.

"Ok, then let's get some ramen together."

As Naruto turned back to the ramen stand he heard shattering inside. Then he heard Ayame, the owner's daughter, scream for help so he ran inside along with his team. Ayame was being held with a kunai at her throat by a masked ninja with no headband. Then he heard a muffled noise behind him and he found Sasuke, and Yakumo held by two more ninja.

"Finally we have the two clan children we needed."

"You stay right here kid otherwise, I will kill the girl, just like her dear old dad." The ninja holding Ayame said.

"But…"

"Naruto, me and Yakumo can handle ourselves protect the civilian, that is your mission. Forget about us." Sasuke said and then the ninja started to move away before they leapt into the air.

Naruto looked to Ayame, and back to wear his teammates were.

"What do I do?"

…

Sasuke was sitting alone on a bench. He was going over in his mind everything that Itachi had said to them. He was right. Sasuke wouldn't listen and he failed to see through what his brother wanted. He felt like Itachi would be easier on him because they were brothers.

"Hey Uchiha."

"What do you want Naruto?"

"Just seeing how you were holding up."

"I'm fine. I just feel so stupid. I've ruined my future."

"I don't think it's that bad. We just have to talk to the Hokage. I mean, I'm the last Senju and son of the fourth Hokage, and you're a freaking Uchiha. He won't ban us from becoming ninja."

"Naruto, what are you talking about. You would never use your heritage like that."

"Well crap, I was counting on you not caring enough. Oh well."

The fake Naruto dropped his transformation technique and Sasuke instantly recognized the man in front of him from pictures he was shown. The chin scar, the bandaged eye, and the useless arm wrapped up and in a sling. This man was the ex-advisor to the Hokage, Danzo Shimura. The man who orchestrated the Uchiha Massacre.

"Hello there young Uchiha. I know how much you must hate me, so I decided to give you this one chance. I will stand here and you can kill me or what I did to your clan." Sasuke looked slightly stunned by Danzo, but he smiled and pulled out a kunai knife. "Oh but I forgot to mention, if you kill me…" He snapped his fingers and Naruto and Yakumo were dropped from the tree onto the ground. "…then your team will be eliminated by my Anbu. So Uchiha what do you choose?"

Sasuke panicked as he saw Naruto, and Yakumo unconscious in front of him. Danzo was completely exposed and Sasuke knew that this would be his only chance, but if he did then…. What would he do?

"Damn it…"

…

Yakumo felt like something was off as she looked around the classroom she sat in. It was a familiar feeling to her but at the same time completely different than anything she had ever felt. As she sat alone she heard the door in front of her opening. A black haired woman with red eyes walked in and stood in front of her.

"Kurenai sensei?"

"Hello Yakumo. I heard that you failed Itachi's test."

"Yes the team did fail." She answered sadly."

"It is all for the better I think."

"How can you say that sensei?"

"Because you are dangerous. I told you to find a new path to follow. You will never be a strong enough shinobi."

"But I know that I can do it!"

"Do you really think so? Because even i can see that you are still too afraid to control yourself."

Naruto and Sasuke walked into the class room with their hands bound behind their back. Kurenai turned to look at the boys, and when she turned back she became a demon with two long horns sticking out of the side of her head, and longs fangs.

"**I am your fears, I am your power. You are weak without me, you are nothing compared to me."**

The floor under Naruto and Sasuke began to crack beneath their feet. Yakumo watched as the fear in their eyes grew with every sickening crunch, but as the demon stood in front of her she found herself unable to move. She felt helpless to save them.

"No."

….

Yamato landed in front of Itachi who stood over the bodies of his students. The three Genin were not moving and their eyes were closed as if they had been sleeping. Itachi looked intently on the three Genin.

"You decided to take that route after all."

"Yes, I find that the mind is a much better place to watch someone's true nature in action."

"How are they doing?"

"Better than expected actually, they are fighting against their instincts well."

"So are you going to pass them?"

"If they can prove themselves then yes."

"You know Itachi, many Chunin, couldn't pass this test of yours."

"I know, but I have to make sure that they can handle it."

"Just please don't mess them up too bad. One Ibiki is enough around here. We don't need a second."

Itachi and Yamato laughed together. Yamato still felt guilty around his friend but he had been slowly getting over it. Itachi was glad to have him back.

"Well I had better let you get back then, huh teach?"

"Yes, and you need to get to the Anbu compound. Isn't today your first day Captain?"

The two friends nodded o each other and Yamato left. He really hoped Naruto could pull through this test.

…

Naruto didn't know what to do. One the one hand he could save his friends, but Ayame would be killed. On the other if he saved Ayame, then his friends would be gone. He had to protect the civilian. As a ninja that is his mission. But could he really just let his teammates me taken away. Could he really abandon them like that?

"Darn it. Why can't I be in two places at o…..so stupid!" Naruto said as he smiled and smacked himself in the forehead before making a hand sign. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

Eight more Naruto's poofed into existence. The split into three groups quickly, attempting to rescue all three hostages at once. The ninja who held Sasuke tried to dodge the first Naruto's kick but a second came from around back and threw a fist. The ninja moved his head in order to avoid the blow but he moved right into the waiting fist of clone #3.

The ninja holding Yakumo dodged several throw kunai without allowing her to be injured. They're orders were to defend the target until delivery. As the ninja was too busy trying to not get his he failed to see the clone falling from above. The clone kicked the ninja's head downwards as hard as he could instantly knocking him unconscious.

The final three clones rushed the ninja holding Ayame captive. He tried to kill her, but was unable due to the shock of his comrade's loss.

"Water Style: Drilling Water Bullet Jutsu!"

All the clones blasted him from different sides and he was forced away from Ayame as the blasts of water hit him. One of the Naruto's leapt on top of him with a kunai and held it against his throat.

"You're finished." And his vision went dark.

…

Sasuke looked straight into Danzo's eyes. The old war hawk stared at the boy with a smile on his face. He knew that he had the boy trapped as he could never resist the thought of revenge and power. Sasuke's fists were clenched and shaking as he didn't know what to do. He was more torn than he had ever been before. He just wanted to make the right choice.

"Sasuke Uchiha, I will make you a deal. Obviously you cannot kill me, or save your friends. So I will give you the one thing that you want more than anything. Power. Kill your teammates and I will give you more power than you could possibly imagine."

Sasuke froze in place. Did this man actually just offer this? More power. The idea was intriguing, and he wanted to get stronger. But after looking at his best friend his answer became clear to him. And for once he felt clarity.

"Your offer is tempting Danzo."

"Do you accept?"

"I accept…that you can shove your offer up your ass. I hate you Danzo, more than you could ever imagine, but I will not let harm come to my friends. I will give my life to protect him you son of a…"

And his vision went dark…

…

Yakumo's knees were shaking. She saw the floor falling away bit by bit, but she couldn't move. The demon was now laughing at her weakness. As she stood there she thought of everything she had been told in her life.

"You are weak."

"You will never be a ninja so give up that path."

"You Taijutsu is awful, as is your Ninjutsu. You will never make it."

"You are pathetic."

As all of the voices rang through her head, she grew angrier, and fiercer. She felt like she would explode if she didn't let it out soon. The demon started to chuckle and walk towards her. And that is when she saw it.

"**You stand no chance Yakumo. I am your fear, I am your hatred. I am your strength. I am….!"**

"Completely annoying. I mean shut up already." Yakumo looked at the demon with fire in her eyes. "I finally figured it out."

As she said that the floor beneath Naruto and Sasuke's feet began to rebuild itself. The demon was astonished and didn't understand what was happening. Its power was draining away drastically.

"**What…what are you doing?"**

"This is a Genjustu, granted a really well thought out multilayer one that confused me for a while, but I finally figured it out. You hold no power over me, and I will never let you hurt my comrades, Genjustu versions or the real ones. Your time is up."

She put her hands together into a hand sign and shouted out "Release" as she flared her chakra. And her vision went dark.

…

All three teammate's eyes began to flutter on open and they realized they were lying on the grass in front of Itachi.

"Congratulations you three. You passed my tests."

"What tests?" Sasuke asked, clearly upset.

"Well technically you were not Genin yet. Not until I decided you were ready. There were lessons that the three of you needed to learn first."

"What lessons?" Naruto asked.

"Naruto, you are headstrong, intelligent, and caring to a fault. But you also see your mission as your first duty, and in this world those who don't complete their mission are seen as trash, but those who forget about their comrades are worse than trash. I needed to know that you wouldn't leave your team behind, even if compromised."

Naruto nodded his head in understanding.

"Sasuke, you my brother are one whom I care about more than any other, but you have a few major flaws that you need to work on. Firstly, you need to let go of revenge. Killing Danzo right now would not help. Second you seek power in your life, and wanting to be stronger is ok, unless it hurts your loved ones. You did well in your test but you could have done much better. You were so consumed with the thought of revenge and power that you almost failed your team."

Sasuke looked down dejectedly.

"And Yakumo. You fear what is inside of you, and because of this you are a liability. You need to be able to push forward from your fears if you want to stand a chance at the ninja world. Your teammates will need you to be strong, so don't you fail them."

Yakumo smiled and bowed with respect to her sensei.

"The reason I acted like that before, was I needed to rattle your heads before putting you in the jutsu. And I am proud to say that you are officially the new Genin on the shelf. The first thing that I would like to do as a team is to tell everyone a little about yourself."

"What do you mean Itachi Sensei?" Naruto asked.

"I'll go first." Itachi said. "I am Itachi Uchiha, son of Fugaku, and Mikoto Uchiha, and Brother to Sasuke Uchiha. I have a few likes, and a few dislikes. My hoppy would have to be ding mission for the lord Hokage. My dreams for the future is to help the Uchiha forge a new name among this word, and to help Konoha keep the peace."

Sasuke looked at his brother with pride, while Naruto and Yakumo and Naruto realized just how good their sensei really could be.

"Now Naruto, your turn."

"My name is Naruto Senju-Namikaze, I am the birth son of Kushina Uzumaki, and Minato Namikaze. My adoptive mother is Tsunade Senju, and my brother is Yamato Senju. I like to learn new things, grow stronger with my friends, and to eat as much ramen as physically possible without getting sick. I dislike certain snakes, and people who treat others like tools or less than human. My hobbies include Fuinjutsu, and medical ninjustsu, though I want to start learning kenjutsu. My dream for the future is to become a strong protector of this village and one day become the Hokage like my Father."

"Good, now you Yakumo."

"My name is Yakumo Kurama. I am an orphan ever since my parents were killed in an accident. I like Genjustu, and art. I dislike people who don't let others grow stronger. My hobbies include painting, and my future dream is to become a stronger Genjustu mistress than my previous sensei."

"And now you Sasuke."

"I am Sasuke Uchiha, son of Fugaku, and Mikoto Uchiha, and younger brother of Itachi Uchiha. I like my friends and training. I dislike schemers, and those who wish to steal what is not theirs to take. My hobbies are to train with my brother and best friend. My future goal is to help rebuild the Uchiha clan, and one day become an Anbu Commander. Maybe even the head of the Konoha Shinobi Police Force."

"Well-spoken all of you. I would like to thank you for that. I know that you know each other, or at least Naruto, and Sasuke do, but this is a good exercise to build teamwork. Tomorrow we start taking missions and I will be giving you all personalized training regiments. You are dismissed until 8:00 A.M. At that time you are to be at training ground 42."

"Yes sensei." All three Genin said."

"You may leave."

The three teammates all left to rest their heads after the intense Genjustu tests. Itachi couldn't have been happier with the results.

"Squad 7 will be a success."

…

**Thanks to everyone for reading the chapter, I hope that you enjoyed it. Please review, I loved hearing your thoughts on my writing.**

**Next time, Teamwork raining: A D-Ranked nightmare. **


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, or anything associated with the manga, or anime. I only own this story.**

**Hey everyone, thanks for stopping back in to read this chapter. Sorry for the late review, I got really busy this past week. This story has more than surpassed my expectations for it, so thanks to everyone for reading. Thanks for the support on the last chapter. 80 reviews, 151 favorites, 202 followers, and 17,466 views. 1 community.**

**XBlackknight: I apologize but NaruHaku is not one of the poll choices. Thanks for the review.**

**Uzumaki Naho: I haven't read many stories with Itachi as a sensei, so I wanted to try it out. Thanks for the review.**

**Lilnudger 82: Thank you for all of your reviews. I hope to hear from you again.**

**Michu-92: I'm glad that I was able to surprise you with my choice.**

**Tobi Wants a Cookie: I'm trying my best to make my choices in this story unique as they happen, so thank you.**

**The Darkest Blaze: Thanks for reviewing.**

**No Name Anime Fan: Thanks for the review. Yes there will be a poll for Sasuke's pairing, though I haven't decided who will be in it yet. **

**AnimangaLoverFE: I'm glad that you like the story. Thanks for reviewing.**

**On a separate note, I am absolutely horrible at drawing, and have no talent in that form of art. I would like to ask if anyone is willing to draw a cover for this story. If so please either review, or pm me. Thanks for the help.**

**So I will be starting a poll for the pairing of Sasuke. I do not know who I want yet so if you have any suggestions I will be looking for five names. I will take the most popular choices. Poll will start on my next update. Also it will not be the first C-rank, but do you guys want to see my take on the Land of Waves mission. Let me know please.**

**In this chapter I will show you what team 7 will be training in. Each member has their own training schedule. This chapter also focuses heavily on their teamwork together.**

**The poll for who will be Naruto's Pairing in this story is now over. I had 57 voters, so I was quite happy. Here were the results **

**Ryuuzetsu: 20**

**Ten Ten: 15**

**Yakumo: 12**

**Kin: 8**

**OC: 2**

**The pairing will not happen for a while, but thanks to everyone who voted.**

**A Hero's DNA**

Chapter 11: Team training: A D-Ranked Nightmare.

Naruto woke up at six in the morning and decided to do an early morning workout routine. He wanted to be warmed up and ready for his first day of training with his team. He was in the middle of doing pull ups when Yamato quietly knocked on his door. Naruto dropped from the bar and opened up the door for his brother.

"Hey Yamato what's up?"

"Naruto there is something that I need to talk to you about."

"What is it?"

"I will be going on a mission shortly. The Hokage requested my presence in an hour so ii probably will not be around for a bit. "

Naruto had been growing more and more used to this as Yamato was constantly on Anbu missions. He used to really freak out but it had grown easy for the young Genin.

"But what I really need to say is about after I come back."

"Is there something wrong?"

"Not exactly. I am planning on moving into one of the other Senju compound houses."

Yamato waited for a moment afraid that Naruto would be upset, or even think he was abandoning him. Naruto let out a large sigh and smiled at him.

"Is that all, I was worried you were gonna say you were dying or something."

"You're not angry?"

"Of course not Yamato. I know that you're older now. You need to get out of moms house and find yourself a nice girl to marry or something. Besides if you stay here any longer People will start to wonder how the younger brother suddenly out shined the Anbu Captain." Naruto said with a slight grin.

Yamato was slightly shocked at the statement but just laughed with his brother. He felt as if a weight had been lifted off of his shoulders.

"But since you re moving out. You need to at least find some time to help me train or something. After all now that you are going to be paying for your own place, I can't have you spending all of your money on ramen for me. So I'll just have to settle for some extra kenjutsu training." Naruto said with grinning with his eyes closed.

"We will see Naruto, after all Itachi is your teacher now. That is his job, to teach you, now."

"Come on Yamato, we both know that he is going to help Sasuke train privately."

"Probably yes. Well I can't have you being bested by an Uchiha. You know how arrogant they can get." He said grinning to Naruto.

"Oh god, an arrogant Uchiha. What ever will we do?"

The two brothers talked and joked for a few more minutes until Naruto decided that he should shower and get ready. Yamato left the house and went to speak with the Hokage. After his shower Naruto dressed with all of his new equipment and ate a quick breakfast. He saw that he had thirty minutes to get to the training grounds so he took of out the door before Tsunade or Shizune woke up.

He was the first on to make it to the training grounds, or at least he thought so as he failed to notice Itachi already waiting for them in a tree. Naruto looked around and as he didn't see anyone he sat down and began to meditate. This interested Itachi greatly, but the Jonin decided against interrupting Naruto, he would talk to him about it later. It was ten minutes later when Sasuke and Yakumo arrived together. They had met up as they walked, so they decided to walk together.

"Naruto, you're here early. What nothing better to do with your time than sit all alone and wonder where your friends are?"

"Sasuke, walking with Yakumo huh? So you're not batting for the other team then?"

Both boys glared at each other for a few seconds, until the glares turned into smirks, and then they started laughing together. Yakumo just looked at the two of them strangely.

"You guys are idiots."

"Well it is about time that you are all here."

Itachi jumped from the tree and landed near the three Genin.

"I'm glad to see that none of you came on time, or late. So are you three ready for what I will be teaching you?"

"Yes sensei." All three said together.

"Good, we will start with Yakumo. You are great with Genjutsu, better than most Chunin's really. So I want to make you a Genjutsu master. Your Taijutsu, and Ninjutsu levels are less than mediocre. You can't stick with just one weapon in your arsenal otherwise you become predictable, and die. So I want to push those skills up some. Mostly thought you will be a long range fighter." He handed her a schedule.  
"So your schedule for each week will be;"

**Monday: Genjutsu 8:00 – 12:00, Physical conditioning 1:00 – 3:00, Long range weapons 3:00 – 5:00.**

**Tuesday: Taijutsu 8:00 – 10:00, Ninjutsu 10:00 – 12:00, Team missions 1:00.**

**Wednesday: Genjutsu 8:00 – 12:00, Physical conditioning 1:00 – 3:00, Long range weapons 3:00 – 5:00.**

**Thursday: Taijutsu 8:00 – 10:00, Ninjutsu 10:00 – 12:00, Team missions 1:00.**

**Friday: Genjutsu 8:00 – 12:00, Physical conditioning 1:00 – 3:00, Long range weapons 3:00 – 5:00.**

**Saturday: Teamwork Training 8:00 – 12:00, Team Missions 1:00. **

**Sundays. **

"Sundays are yours to do with whatever you want. This will be your schedule until I decide that you are in need of a change. I still expect that you will study when you have the time to do so, as your written test scores were in the middle of the class. Do you understand?"

"Yes sensei."

"Sasuke you're next. Your Taijutsu is impressive, as is your Ninjutsu. Your thrown weapons accuracy is nearly perfect. Where you struggle is Genjutsu, though you are more on a close combat brawler, and a mid-range ninjustsu specialist. I think that you also need to work on your speed. You are already fast, but I want you faster. So your schedule will be;

**Monday: Ninjutsu 8:00 – 12:00, Physical conditioning 1:00 – 3:00, Kenjutsu 3:00 – 5:00.**

**Tuesday: Taijutsu 8:00 – 10:00, Genjutsu 10:00 – 12:00, Team missions 1:00.**

**Wednesday: Ninjutsu 8:00 – 12:00, Physical conditioning 1:00 – 3:00, Kenjutsu 3:00 – 5:00.**

**Thursday: Taijutsu 8:00 – 10:00, Genjutsu 10:00 – 12:00, Team missions 1:00.**

**Friday: Shuriken Jutsu 8:00 – 12:00, Physical conditioning 1:00 – 3:00, Kenjutsu 3:00 – 5:00.**

**Saturday: Teamwork Training 8:00 – 12:00, Team Missions 1:00. **

**Sundays. **

"Same as Yakumo your Sundays are yours to decide. I reserve the right to change scheduling around. Keep up with your studies as well. Do you understand?"

"Yes sensei." He said with a smirk."

"And finally you Naruto. Your Skills are about at the same level a Sasuke, though your Taijutsu is weaker. You also have Fuinjutsu, as well as some medical Ninjutsu. So you have a wide role for this team. You can be a medic, a close range fighter, and a mid-range support. You have almost no skill in Genjutsu, and like Sasuke you would make a good Kenjutsu fighter. Your schedule was a little more difficult, though I was able to get some help. Here you go."

Itachi handed Naruto his schedule and Naruto quickly reviewed it.

**Monday: Ninjutsu 8:00 – 12:00 Physical conditioning 1:00 – 3:00, Kenjutsu 3:00 – 5:00.**

**Tuesday: Taijutsu 8:00 – 10:00, Fuinjutsu 10:00 – 12:00, Team missions 1:00.**

**Wednesday: Ninjutsu 8:00 – 12:00, Physical conditioning 1:00 – 3:00, Kenjutsu 3:00 – 5:00.**

**Thursday: Taijutsu 8:00 – 10:00, Fuinjutsu 10:00 – 12:00, Team missions 1:00.**

**Friday: Medical Ninjutsu 8:00 – 12:00, Physical conditioning 1:00 – 3:00, Kenjutsu 3:00 – 5:00.**

**Saturday: Teamwork Training 8:00 – 12:00, Team Missions 1:00. **

**Sundays. **

"Your mother agreed to teach you on Friday mornings, so you will still be taking Medical classes with her. I am not very knowledgeable with sealing, but as it benefits the team you will I will supervise you as you work on it. I opted to not concern you with Genjustu, as you really have no talent for it. Though I will ask that you occasionally train with Sasuke or Yakumo, to work on releasing yourself from them, and it will help you to notice them better. Sunday are all yours as well, though don't be surprised if your mother wants to work with you. Understood?"

"Yes sensei."

"You all need work on Chakra control so on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, before you begin your normal training I will be running you through exercises. Now the rest of this week will be for working together as a team. Your first assignment is for all of you to get these shuriken."

He pulled out three shuriken and threw them about a quarter of the way up into three trees. All three of the Genin ran at their respective trees and started climbing until they were forced off of them.

"Don't be too hasty. You will climb those trees, without using your hands."

"What?" Naruto asked.

"But sensei, that isn't possible." Yakumo stated.

"Isn't it?"

Itachi walked up to a tree. His feet attached to the trunk and he easily walked up the side of the tree.

"How are you doing that sensei?" Naruto asked.

"I am sending Chakra too my feet and using it to connect to the trees trunk. This is an easy chakra control exercise, but to up the challenge I will not help you. Figure it out as a team. Consider this your first D-ranked mission from me."

Itachi burst into crows and left the three Genin to work together. He secretly watched from the top of another tree.

"So how are we supposed to do this?" Yakumo asked.

"I say we just go for it. It can't be that hard." Sasuke answered.

He made a hand sign and focused chakra to his feet. Feeling the power he smiled and ran at the tree. His first foot connected to the tree and he could tell that it was working. He made it four steps until he found himself blown away by his chakra. An indent was left in the trees trunk.

"Wow nice work there Sasuke."

"Shut up Naruto. I'd like to see you do better."

"Is that a challenge?"

"Yes it is."

The two friends glared at each other. Their rivalry started to really show through as they both ran at the trees at the same time. Again Sasuke's foot connected. He made it one step higher than before until he was thrown off again. He looked over and Naruto had made it just as high as he did. Itachi smiled and shook his head as he watched.

"Guys, I think we should talk about this." Yakumo said to the other two.

"Yeah, I think your right."

"Whatever." Sasuke said, not wanting to admit he didn't know what to do.

"So what do we do?" Naruto asked.

"Itachi sensei said to figure it out as a team, so, Sasuke?"

"Yeah."

"Describe what you felt when you walked up the tree."

"The first few steps were easy, but then my chakra spiked and it damaged the tree and knocked me off."

"Yeah that's how I felt too. Like my heartbeat was increasing and I lost control." Naruto added.

"So I think that the key here is focus. The more we focus on our chakra the easier it will be to climb."

Yakumo made a hand sign and focused chakra into her feet. She ran at her tree and kept her breathing steady. She easily doubled the distance the boys made it and when she was halfway to the shuriken her foot slipped. At first she panicked as she started to fall but her instincts' kicked in and she quickly grabbed a kunai and impaled it into the tree and held herself there for a moment.

"Are you ok Yakumo?" Naruto asked.

"Yeah I'm fine."

Readying herself she placed her feet on the trunk and pushed off, pulling the kunai from the bark and landed on her feet.

"Well you certainly have a better handle on Chakra control than we do."

"Thank you Sasuke."

"Wow Sasuke giving a compliment. You must really like her."

"Shut up Naruto!"

"Ok you two. So we do this as a team then right. If that's the case then listen up, gather chakra into your feet. Focus on the tree. If you can be in tune with the trees own chakra, then you should be able to find the exact amount needed to stay attached. Then you just have to keep your concentration. It should be a lot easier at that point."

"Man, and I thought I was smart. I can understand the necessity of this training though. With better control maybe I can advance in my medical jutsu." Naruto said to the team.

"Then what are we waiting for?" Sasuke asked. "Let's do this guys.

Itachi watched for the next hour as Naruto and Sasuke each made impressive strives in their distance up the tree. Yakumo clearly had the best control as she was able to make it to the shuriken on her third try. Still, even though she made it she helped the other two out by watching them and helping them focus.

"Ok Naruto, we can do it this time."

"All or nothing right Sasuke?"

Sasuke just smiled back and the two friends focused their chakra. Naruto found each time that he felt a strange presence in the tree. It was like him and the tree became one. Itachi noticed that Naruto's chakra would sometimes become slightly visible and it would have a deep green hue to it, instead of the normal blue.

Naruto and Sasuke took off at the same time running at the tree. Step for step they were equals as they climbed. They seemed to be in perfect synch and their focus was flawless. Itachi watched, impressed by their quick learning of this technique. Both ninja reached out for the shuriken and they grasped the weapons simultaneously.

"Yeah, we did it!" Naruto excitedly shouted.

"Calm down Naruto, you're embarrassing." Sasuke scoffed, even though he too was happy for passing the test.

They both landed on the ground next to Yakumo and she smiled at them.

"Good job you three now for one more test."

He pulled out three kunai. Two were thrown at a slightly higher distance on two side by side trees. The third was thrown twice that distance on another tree about ten feet away.

"Now only one of you can retrieve each Kunai, but the higher up kunai, you are not allowed to climb from the bottom. You must use teamwork to get that third kunai. Figure it out."

All three ninja stood deep in thought trying to figure out how to do it. It was Naruto who understood what needed to be done.

"Yakumo you have the best control out of us, so you will get the third kunai."

"But I can't run up the tree."

"No, you can't start from the bottom, but the middle is open game."

"What are you talking about Naruto?" Sasuke asked.

"Sasuke, you and I will get to the first two kunai. Once we are stable and can stand on our own up there, Yakumo will run up one of our trees and we will launch her to the third tree where she can climb up the rest of the way."

Yakumo instantly became nervous. She realized how much pressure she would be under. Not only did she have to climb up behind them but she had to trust that they wouldn't let her fall, and could get her to the third tree. Then she had to keep focus to connect to and climb it.

"I…I don't know about this Naruto."

"Yakumo you're the only one of us with the skill to do it right now. Trust us, we won't let you fall."

Itachi smiled at Naruto. He was beginning to understand the purpose of teamwork. It was a trust that had to be kept by the whole tea otherwise they would fail. He wondered if they could do it.

"Yakumo, Naruto is right."

"Another compliment Sasuke you're on a roll today."

"Shut up Naruto. Anyway, we won't fail you. We trust that you can do it."

Yakumo stood in thought for a few moments. She trusted her team, but not herself. She doubted her ability.

"You can do this. I believe…no, we believe in you." Naruto softly said to her.

She looked into his blue and green eyes and smiled.

"Ok, let's do it."

"Ready Sasuke."

"Yeah."

Naruto and Sasuke took off and began their climb. It was getting easier to concentrate on the tree, and they didn't miss a step. As they each approached the kunai in the tree they brought out a second Kunai each. Together they impaled the second kunai by the first and climbed on top to stand on the hilts. Sasuke was slightly worried that the knives wouldn't hold their weight but he couldn't let his fear affect the team so he pushed it aside.

"Ok Yakumo, you're up!" Naruto shouted.

She took a few deep breaths and concentrated on both trees. The difference in chakra needed for both was slightly different but she knew that she could do it. She took off running up Naruto's tree. As she approached him she grabbed his hand and he pulled her up. She stood, one foot in each of their hands.

"Ok, now one..."

Yakumo studied the tree in front of her and concentrated ion her chakra.

"..Two…"

She felt the something start to give way and looked down. Their combined weight was causing the kunai's to loosen from the tree trunks. She kept her composure and concentration.

"…Three!"

Naruto and Sasuke used all of their strength to hurl Yakumo towards the tree before the kunai broke free of the tree bark. As they fell Naruto and Sasuke grabbed ahold of the Kunai and Itachi watched as they impaled them back into the tree to stop their fall.

"That was a close one." Naruto said laughing.

As Yakumo closed in on the tree she took out her own Kunai knife and stabbed the tree. She used the momentum of the throw to flip herself over the knife and he feet connected to the tree as she began to run.

"I did it!"

She almost slipped as her concentration faltered.

"No…no… concentrate." She said to herself.

She continued her run and she could see the knife.

"Almost there…"

She was ten feet away.

"Closer…"

Five feet.

"Just a little more…"

She closed her eyes as she reach out and grasped hold of the kunai.

"I did it. I actually did it!"

She kept herself calm and turned around. She began her decent and ran down the tree. When she was close enough to do it without hurting herself she jumped off and landed next to her teammates.

"Great job Yakumo!" Naruto nearly yelled.

"Not too bad." Sasuke agreed.

"You three did well. Now I believe you are ready for your first mission."

Itachi pulled out a scroll.

"I got this from Lord Hokage this morning as I had no doubt that you would succeed. This is your first real D-ranked mission."

Naruto knew all about the chores that D-ranks were, but he also knew they were needed to grow as a team.

"So, Itachi sensei, what's it gonna be? Babysitting some kids? Helping an old man do his weekly shopping?"

"No, think of this as a tradition being passed down. It was my first D-rank after all, and even your brother did this one as training before he started in Anbu."

Sasuke's face paled as he realized what it was.

"What is it Sasuke?" Yakumo asked.

"Every Genin's worst nightmare."

Naruto paled at the realization.

"You don't mean…"

"That's right." Itachi said evilly. "Your first D-Ranked mission is to capture the missing pet Tora."

Somewhere in the distance a cat with a red ribbon on its ear sneezed, and ran as it realized it was being hunted.

…

**Thanks guys and remember, if you want to see a version of wave, or don't want to see it let me know via review. Also if you have a preferred pairing for Sasuke, not yaoi, let me know. I will be starting the Sasuke pole next update. Thanks for reading, please review.**


	13. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, or anything associated with the manga, or anime. I only own this story.**

**Hey everyone, thanks for stopping back in to read this chapter. I am greatly sorry for my long absence. I have had a lot on my plate and absolutely no time to write. Now I'm back and aching to get back in the flow of things. This story has more than surpassed my expectations for it, so thanks to everyone for reading. Thanks for the support on the last chapter. 87 reviews, 180 favorites, 241 followers, and 23,534 views. 2 communities. A big thanks to Chaotic Disorder, for adding my story to their community.**

**Butterflypuss: Thanks for the review.**

**Please Read My Stuff: I appreciate your review.**

**InflatedChimp: I am going for a unique Sasuke pairing as well, information is down below.**

**ZRAIARZ: Thanks for reviewing.**

**Dai Sennin Kurosaki D Naruto: Thank you, though I am aware of his drawback. Orochimaru's method of taking Naruto's body will be explained later in the story.**

**Drakonic13: Thanks for the kind words. Sorry for the lengthy wait.**

**Tobi Wants a Cookie: Thanks for reviewing, sorry for the absence of my reviews. I have been unable to read your fic for a while.**

**On a separate note, I am absolutely horrible at drawing, and have no talent in that form of art. I would like to ask if anyone is willing to draw a cover for this story. If so please either review, or pm me. Thanks for the help.**

**I have decided to go ahead and work in the Land of Waves arc, but it will not be completely canon.**

**This chapter will focus on Yamato's mission, as well as the beginning of Team 7's first C-Rank Mission.**

**I am now starting up a poll for the Sasuke pairing. As I previous explained with my Naruto poll, I wanted to do something different, that I haven't read before so here are the options:**

**Fem Haku.**

**Ten Ten.**

**Yakumo.**

**OC.**

**If you have any suggestions for a pairing let me know and give me a reason please. If I agree I will add it to the list. You can find the link to the poll on my profile page. Please vote.**

**A Hero's DNA**

Chapter 12: First blood: A C-Ranked adventure begins.

Yamato sat in the trees overlooking a small encampment of low ranked missing ninja. After two weeks he had managed to find the hidden camp of ninja, and he estimated their numbers to be around ten. He knew that this mission should have been handled by a normal squad of Anbu, but at the Hokage's request he agreed to handle it alone.

…**Flash back,…**

_Yamato knocked on the Hokage's office door. Hiruzen Sarutobi had called him in for an important assignment and luckily since Kakashi was no longer a part of his team, he could actually be on time._

_Come in."_

_He pushed open the door and approached the Hokage's desk. Hiruzen was reading over a mission scroll, and after noticing it was Yamato he placed it on the desk._

"_Ah Yamato, it is good that you are here. I have an assignment for you."_

"_What is the mission Lord Hokage?"_

"_It seems that there have been many raids, and murders in the outlying villages of our country. The villages are on the border of the Land of Tea, and our Land of Fire."_

"_Sounds like the work of bandits."_

"_I thought so as well, but it appears as though these bandits are trained in the ninja arts."_

"_A band of missing ninja? Are there any reports as to who they are, ranks, or even abilities?"_

"_No. Our knowledge on this matter is limited. Normally I would send at least a four man squad to combat this threat, but our Anbu forces are limited by the sheer number of missions we have had recently. You are among our top operatives Yamato. I believe that you could handle this situation. Or at least discover much needed information, and return so we can send the needed forces."_

"_Lord Hokage, you give me too much credit. My abilities are shadowed by…."_

"_Yamato, I have more faith in you then most of our current shinobi. If anyone can do this, it is you." Hiruzen said calmly, with a smile._

"_Thank you Lord Hokage. I will do the mission, as you have requested. When shall I leave?"_

"_Immediately."_

"_As you wish."_

_Yamato couldn't believe the praise Hiruzen had given him. He knew that he was no match for shinobi like Itachi, or Kakashi, but to hear his Hokage had this much faith in his abilities…..He wouldn't fail his Kage._

…**Flashback ends…**

After locating the camp Yamato hid himself amongst the leaves with a high ranked Genjutsu that Itachi had taught him. He sent a message to the Hokage, who asked him to stay another few weeks to assess the situation more, and hopefully put some names to the missing ninjas. After a few days he had managed to figure out the names of all the ninja. He waited patiently as he observed the missing ninjas, trying to gather any other information he may need to engage the group in battle. After two weeks passed, he tore out the pages of his bingo book that held each name and sent them to Hiruzen.

**Chaiki Yoina, 26, Female.**

**Rank: Chunin**

**Village of Origin: Iwagakure**

**Wanted: Dead or Alive**

**Abilities: Taijutsu Specialist, limited knowledge of Genjustu, Earth Chakra Affinity.**

**Crimes: Theft, Desertion, Assisted Murder.**

**Kimiko Akihana, 26, Female.**

**Rank: Chunin**

**Village of Origin: Iwagakure**

**Wanted: Dead or Alive**

**Abilities: Notable use of Water Ninjustu.**

**Crimes: Theft, Desertion, Murder.**

**Ryuuga Benjiro, 18, Male.**

**Rank: Chunin**

**Village of Origin: Kumogakure**

**Wanted: Dead.**

**Abilities: Lightning Affinity, Powerful Combo attacks with twin brother.**

**Crimes: Murder, Desertion, Kidnapping.**

**Genji Benjiro, 18, Male.**

**Rank: Chunin**

**Village of Origin: Kumogakure**

**Wanted: Dead.**

**Abilities: Water Affinity, Powerful Combo attacks with twin brother.**

**Crimes: Murder, Desertion, Kidnapping.**

**Ritsuke Souji, 14, Female.**

**Rank: Genin.**

**Village of Origin: Kumogakure**

**Wanted: Dead.**

**Abilities: Unknown.**

**Crimes: Murder, Desertion, taken from village by Benjiro brothers, have since assisted in the murder of Kumo civilians and ninja.**

**Choukichi, 14, Male.**

**Rank: Genin.**

**Village of Origin: Kumogakure**

**Wanted: Dead.**

**Abilities: Unknown.**

**Crimes: Murder, Desertion, taken from village by Benjiro brothers, have since assisted in the murder of Kumo civilians and ninja.**

**Fumitaka Taodaiki, 22, Male.**

**Rank: Chunin**

**Village of Origin: Kirigakure.**

**Wanted: Dead**

**Abilities: Kenjutsu, Water Ninjutsu.**

**Crimes: Murder, Desertion, Attempted Murder.**

**Ikuya Fuyuki, 25, Male.**

**Rank: Jonin**

**Village of Origin: Kirigakure.**

**Wanted: Dead**

**Abilities: High Water affinity. Fire Affinity. Earth Affinity.**

**Crimes: Murder, Desertion, Attempted Murder, Attempted Thievery.**

**Kaede Nami, 23, Male.**

**Rank: Jonin**

**Village of Origin: Iwagakure.**

**Wanted: Dead.**

**Abilities: High affinities for Earth, and Wind. Powerful Taijutsu.**

**Crimes: Desertion, Treason, Attempted killing of Tsuchikage.**

**Yasushi Sachihiro, 29, Male.**

**Rank: Ex-Anbu**

**Village of Origin: Iwagakure.**

**Wanted: Dead.**

**Abilities: High affinities for Earth, Water, Fire. Exceptional speed. High level Kenjutsu.**

**Crimes: Desertion, Treason, Attempted murder of Tsuchikage.**

The Hokage quickly responded to Yamato's letter telling him to only proceed with the mission if he felt he had the tactical advantage, otherwise wait for reinforcements to arrive in a few days' time. Yamato decided that for now he would go ahead and wait for the reinforcements to arrive. He felt that there was no need to endanger the mission and his life for what would probably be a suicide strike.

…

A month had passed since the start of squad 7's training and Naruto could tell that his team was getting stronger every day. Itachi was a strict but fair sensei and with his assistance the team knew they would be ready to face their next challenge head on. Naruto looked to his two teammates as they stood in the mission office and observed the new attire that Itachi had taken the liberty of obtaining for his team the day before. He had said that it was a gift for their hard work and dedication.

Sasuke wore dark brown pants with black combat boots, a mesh undershirt covered by a black sleeveless shirt. He also wore a dark brown and blue jacket that had the Uchiha fan on the back, and only the right arm had a sleeve covering it. The left arm, being his dominant arm, was covered with bandage wrappings. He wore fingerless gloves with metal plates on the backs, and his chokuto was strapped to his waist on his back, and his kunai holster was on his left leg. Sasuke proudly wore his Forehead protector where it belonged.

Yakumo also wore the same brown pants and black boots as Sasuke. She wore a fishnet undershirt, and a white shirt overtop. She also wore a white vest with red lining over the shirt and the same fingerless gloves as Sasuke. Her kunai holster was on her right leg and she carried a small bag over her shoulder the sat on her hip. She wore her forehead protector on her forehead.

Naruto looked over his own outfit. While he loved what his mother helped him buy before, he felt that his new outfit was more for his team. They would show the world that they were one. His pants and boots were the same as his teammates. He also wore a fishnet mesh undershirt, and a black sleeveless over shirt. His jacket was a dark green with a dark orange Uzumaki swirl on the back. He had the Senju crest stitched in over his heart for his mother. He wore the gloves Shizune gave him, as well as his parent's forehead protectors on each arm. His Jacket sleeves were the opposite of Sasuke's and his right arm was wrapped in bandages. Naruto had scrolls stored in the chest pockets of his jacket, as well as in a few pockets on his left arm. His Shuriken holster was on his right leg, a ninja pouch on the back of his waist, and he had his chokuto strapped to his back.

During their training Yakumo had grown more powerful with her Genjutsu, and make great strides in her long range weapons use. Her Taijutsu was still not up to par, but it was considerably better than before. Yakumo had yet to learn any Ninjutsu, it didn't come naturally for her. Because of this Itachi elected to focus on her Genjutsu.

Sasuke was much faster than before, which worked well with his chokuto. He was becoming quite deadly with his sword. Itachi was slightly concerned that Sasuke would become upset because he still hadn't awakened his Sharingan. Sasuke's fire jutsu had become more powerful, and a great combo for him and Naruto. His Taijutsu, mainly the use of the interceptor form, had also become stronger. Sasuke wasn't too focused on Genjustu yet, so he spent most of his time practicing with his Kenjutsu instead.

Naruto's training had taken great strides. He focused mainly on his Fuinjutsu, and Kenjutsu, sparing frequently with Sasuke, and the two were fairly evenly matched. Sasuke was faster, but Naruto's form, and precision with his blade gave him an edge. His work with seals was getting better every day, though he still had a long way to go before he'd be anywhere near Jiraiya, even longer to get to his Father. Itachi noticed that Naruto's use with wind style jutsu was coming along rapidly. His medical jutsu lessons with Tsunade also proved to be beneficial for his success as it stressed chakra control. Naruto still had no skill in Genjustu, and his Taijutsu was not perfect either, though getting better.

Best of all though was their teamwork. Itachi saw it getting better every day, with every mission. It was too the point where he had seen Sasuke and Naruto reading each other without speaking. They worked flawlessly together. Yakumo also seemed to be integrating well with the other two, and outside of training and missions they all seemed connected at the hip. Naruto with his large grin, Yakumo shyly smiling, and Sasuke rolling his eyes, even though he was happy too. Though what do you expect when their team had completed almost triple the missions that any other rookie team did.

Their most recent mission had once again been the capture and return of the missing pet Tora. Naruto, who normally loved animals and didn't mind doing these small missions, was getting frustrated. This had been the sixth time in a month they had to capture that cat. And Tora did not want anything to do with its owner, who happened to be the wife of the Daimyo. This was the only mission that Naruto and Sasuke often received injuries from the cats continuous scratching. Only Yakumo seemed immune to the cat's horridness.

"Ok then for your next mission," The Hokage said to the group. "What will it be, babysitting, helping an elderly man with his grocery shopping or…"

"TORA PLEASE COME BACK DON"T LEAVE MOMMY!" a high pitched screeching sounded through the halls.

"…Finding the missing pet Tora, again." 

"No!" Both Naruto and Sasuke shouted together while Yakumo laughed.

"Lord Hokage, please, can't you give us a higher ranked mission? I understand the protocol we follow, but our team has done more missions than any of the others." Naruto asked Hiruzen much to everyone's shock.

"Naruto you should be happy with the missions you are assigned. You are still Genin fresh out of the academy. You are not ready for higher ranked missions." Iruka said to the group from the Hokage's side.

"So Naruto, you think your team is ready for a higher class of mission!" Hiruzen asked.

"Yes I do."

"And what about you two?" He asked Sasuke and Yakumo. Both shook their heads silently causing Hiruzen to sit back and ponder what he should do. "Itachi, what do you think?"

"Lord Hokage, my team is strong. They have trained hard. It is my opinion that they could handle a C-Ranked assignment. Plus I will be there in case it gets too dangerous."

"In that case I do have a C-Ranked mission your team can do." Hiruzen said as he handed Itachi a scroll. "The client will meet you at the Village gate tomorrow morning. You are dismissed."

"Thank you Lord Hokage." All of Team 7 said together.

As they walked out of the room Iruka looked over to Hiruzen worriedly.

"Lord Hokage are you sure it's safe sending them on a C-Ranked mission?"

"They have to grow up sooner or later Iruka. They are ninja after all."

…

"So Itachi sensei, what kind of mission is it?" Naruto asked.

"It is a simple escort assignment. We are to protect a small merchant caravan as it heads to a village in the Land of Rivers. It looks like it will take around two weeks, so pack accordingly."

"Will we fight ninja on this mission?" Yakumo asked.

"No, on a C-rank you may see bandits, but that's it."

"What time are we leaving?" Sasuke asked.

"We will meet at 8:30 at the village gate. We leave at 9:00."

The three Genin nodded and walked away to prepare. Naruto went home and ate with Tsunade and Shizune as he told them about the mission he would be going on. Tsunade, of course, was worried about his first C-Ranked assignment but shizune helped calm her down. After they ate Naruto went to his room and meditated.

"**Hello Naruto."**

"Kurama, it has been a while. I'm sorry for that."

"**I have been watching you Naruto. I understand why you haven't contacted me recently."**

"Still, I am sorry."

"**You had best make sure that you are prepared for this assignment Kit."**

"I know that Kurama."

"**I sense trouble will be ahead. Your path looks hard to walk.**

"I will be sure to stay safe. I can't let anything happen to either of us after all."

"**Naruto, I need to warn you that you will soon experience side effects of Orochimaru's experiments on you."**

Naruto paled at the thought.

"What will happen?"

"**I don't know. I just feel it."**

"Thank you for the warning Kurama."

"**Just stay safe, Naruto."**

Naruto finished his meditation and then went to bed. He knew that he would need the rest.

…

Yamato awoke to the sound of the ninja in the camp talking in the middle of the night.

"Chiaki, have you heard anything new on the plan?"

"No Ryuuga, I haven't."

"So it's still in the morning then?"

"Yes Genji, to my knowledge the village is ours in the morning." Chiaki responded to the brothers.

"Those insects have no idea what is coming for them."

Yamato paled at the information. He knew that it would take the reinforcements a few days to get to his location, but these ninja would kill more innocents tomorrow. An internal debate started in his head. If he attacked, the odds were not on his side. If he did nothing people would die. He might die himself. The women and children would not be spared. Naruto might miss…..Naruto!

"_**Yamato, you're a great ninja. No one can beat you!"**_

"_**My big brothers the best!"**_

"_**You will protect those who need it right big brother?"**_

Yamato stood up from his spot in the tree. He refused to run away with his tail between his legs. He wouldn't let Naruto down that way, and if he did die, at least it would be trying to help the helpless.

"Wood Style: Wood Clone Jutsu."

Six clones sprouted from the tree branches around him. All the clones shared his thoughts and knew their respective jobs. Yamato pulled out a small book filled with premade seal tags. He began to hand out several tags to each clone. He stopped at a set of seals given to him by Naruto. He had laughed at his brother's interest in Fuinjutsu, and when Naruto had given him these seals, telling him that he had designed them himself, Yamato didn't know what to expect. Not wanting to risk it he put Naruto's seals back in his pocket.

"Be ready in two hours. We strike then." Yamato said to his clones. They nodded in agreement and then took off. "I promise to do my best Naruto."

…

Naruto stood at the village gate an hour before they were supposed to meet. Two Chunin that Naruto met a few years ago sat at the sign in station, but at the moment they paid him no mind. Naruto always wanted to go outside the village since he came back all those years ago. It felt like the forest was calling out to him. Deciding that it would be a while until anyone showed up Naruto sat down and began to meditate. For thirty minutes he sat in awe at the living green energy that seemed to be emitted from the forest outside. It was like a heartbeat, softly echoing throughout the leaves. Nature was calling him and he never knew what to say.

"What are you doing?"

Naruto opened his eyes to see a little girl standing in front of him looking at his strangely. She had jet black hair pulled into a ponytail with a blue bow and black eyes. She was wearing a light blue dress and had a stuffed bear in her hands.

"What do you mean?"

"You were humming. And some strange colors were coming off of you."

Naruto thought the girl had just imagined something. He wasn't humming at all.

"I was meditating. Who are you?"

"My name is Yatsuko Urara and I am the daughter of the world famous merchant Tenma Urara. The girl said loudly with pride, almost dancing in glee.

"How old are you Yatsuko?" Naruto asked chuckling at her antics.

"I'm six. Are you a ninja?"

"Yes I am."

"That's cool, I guess. Not as cool as my dad though. We have a group of ninja escorting us to our village because my dad's an important person."

"Yatsuko that's enough please."

Naruto looked over to see a man approach who looked a lot like the girl. He had the same black hair and eyes as she did and wore a green kimono. He stood next to a large cart filled with fabrics and other tradable goods.

"I apologize for my daughter. She still doesn't know when she is being rude to people."

"It's no problem."

"I'm Tenma Urara, and you are?"

"Naruto Uzumaki-Senju. I believe that my team and I are the ninja assigned to protect you."

"But you're a child."

"I am a Genin Mr. Urara."

"Mr. Urara I presume."

Naruto looked over to see Sasuke, Itachi, and Yakumo walking towards him.

"Yes and you are?"

"I am Itachi Uchiha, Jonin of Konoha. This is Sasuke Uchiha, and Yakumo Kurama, both are my Genin students. I see you have already met Naruto." Tenma nodded. "We are your protectors for this mission."

"When I put in for this escort, I didn't know that children would be assigned."

"I can assure that these children are among our best Genin. I have taught them personally. I also happen to be one of the Leaf Villages Elite Jonin. We should have no problem protecting you from bandits."

"That is good to here, Itachi Uchiha. I look forward to making it home in a timely fashion."

"That is what we aim for."

"Then let us be off."

Tenma and Yatsuko got inside their carriage and the four ninja surrounded them. Itachi Stood in the back of the group behind the cart, Naruto and Sasuke were assigned the sides, and Yakumo sat on the top hidden in a Genjutsu to scout out the area.

The first four days of travel were uneventful and Naruto smiled at the antics of Yatsuko. She loved traveling with her father but she was also inquisitive and liked to make up stories.

"Naruto, what's up in that tree, is it a bird?"

"Naruto you should here about the time my dad almost lost our cart in a bet."

"Naruto, have you ever seen a dog the size of a horse? I have I swear."

Her dad constantly told her not to disturb the ninja. He said they had better things to do then listen to the stories of a girl. He seemed to have respect for the ninja, but at the same time he didn't seem too anxious to speak with them any more than he had to.

On the fifth day Naruto was almost lost in the sounds of the forest surrounding them as he closed his eyes. It had been roughly four hours since they left the last village they stayed the night in and he enjoyed the music the birds made. Yakumo continued to scout out the area, trying to detect any bandits but her concentration was wavering. Sasuke was getting bored of the lack of actual work he was doing. Naruto's eyes snapped open when he noticed the birds had stopped singing. He heard them take off through the leaves.

"Heads up!" He yelled to the rest of the group. Itachi had already been prepared as he too noticed the birds. Sasuke smiled, ready for some excitement. Yakumo attention became focused on the situation as a group of roughly twenty bandits came running from the trees.

"Hand over the goods and we won't kill you all."

"That's never going to happen." Itachi said as he pulled out a few shuriken.

"Attack!"

Naruto pulled out his Chokuto with his right hand and blocked the strike of an incoming bandit. Another one attempted to flank him on his left side but Naruto spun out of the way and slashed his Chokuto at the Bandits hand knocking his blade away.

Itachi, having seen Naruto's situation, was concerned. He knew of his student's aversion to wanting to kill, but he was worried it might lead to his demise. Four bandits rushed forward but as he stepped forward Itachi activated his Sharingan and all four bandits froze where they stood, each falling victim to Itachi's genjutsu. Because their mind was untrained in handling this event they dropped to the ground dead. He ran to Naruto's side and quickly impaled one of the bandits with his own sword.

"Naruto, if you don't stop these bandits they will kill the people we are sworn to protect. I know that you don't want to take lives, but we are shinobi. This is the responsibility we carry because of our power. I don't want to see you die."

Naruto froze at Itachi's words, but quickly nodded to his sensei. This was one of his biggest struggles. He heard the stories of Yamato's victories and he knew that they involved killing but he hated the thought of taking the life of another.

Sasuke was holding his own against four bandits alone. His speed out matched theirs as did his skill with a sword. Two of the bandits slashed at Sasuke's head but the Uchiha bent backwards and kicked one of them in the chest. As he flipped backwards he slashed the arm of the other bandit, before landing on his feet and stabbing him in the chest, killing the man. Sasuke's eyes widened as he realized that he just performed his first kill, but he snapped out of it realizing the other three bandits were closing in fast.

"Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!"

Sasuke blew the large inferno from his mouth catching the other three bandits ablaze.

Yakumo, who up till now was hidden, watched three bandits attempt to climb into the carriage. As they did she launched kunai in their direction which buried into these bandits stomachs causing them to cry out in pain as they fell back. She followed up with three more kunai which hit them in the hearts. Now noticing her, a bandit climbed up the back of the cart and tried to kill her from behind. He unfortunately found himself in a genjutsu.

"Demonic Mirage: Visage of Death!"

The bandit felt a surge of killer intent rush over his body. He lost all feeling in his arms and legs as he went numb with fear. An apparition of the Shinigami appeared before him laughing with a dagger in his hand. The bandit's body began to go through so much stress his heart exploded from the immense pressure, and he fell to the ground dead.

Naruto heard a scream from behind him. He quickly turned and saw Yatsuko had ran out of the carriage in fear, and had been grabbed by a bandit. The girl was crying as the bandit held her and Naruto felt dread, fear, and anger flush throughout his body. Without thought or pause, acting on complete instinct. He pulled out one of his chakra kunai and channeled his chakra into it. He through the kunai as hard as he could and the chakra coated weapon tore through the man's chest forcing him backwards, away from Yatsuko. Another three bandits began to run at the girl and Naruto rushed forward with his sword.

"Sword Art: Swirling Sword Dance!"

Taking hold of his chokuto with both hand and sending a burst of chakra throughout his body, Naruto flashed forward in the middle of the three bandits and spun three times, slashing his blade in a flurry. As he came to a halt lines of blood appeared to run down the three bandit's bodies. Naruto put the sword back in its sheath and as the blade clicked into place the bandits fell to the ground, dead.

Three bandits remained and they were all petrified at the carnage in front of them. Turning around, they tried to run away. Itachi saw the act of cowardice and realized that these bandits may seek assistance in another attack so he took out three shuriken. All eyes fell on him as he threw the ninja stars with such grace and precision, that they imbedded themselves in the bandits backs severing their spines, killing them instantly.

Naruto sighed in relief that the fight was over, but as he looked over to see Yatsuko cringing away from him in fear he looked over his body. There was blood staining his cloths from his enemies. The fact that he had just taken four lives washed over him, and for what he hoped to be the first and last time, he dropped to his kneed and cried. Sasuke too was having a hard time dealing with what he had done, but the knowledge of its necessity helped to hold him together in front of his teammates. Yakumo was not as affected as her teammates because if her own past history. This was not the first time she had killed to defend herself, and she knew how to deal with what she had done.

Itachi walked over to his student and placed his hand on his shoulder.

"Naruto, you saved Yatsuko. You did well. I am sorry that you were forced to kill, but know that you protected a person who needed your help. As long as that is the reason for taking a life, to protect those who need and deserve it, then you have done the right thing."

"I'm sorry….I didn't want to cry like this."

"It is ok Naruto. We are all a team. You never have to apologize for this."

Sasuke and Yakumo approached their comrade and Sasuke helped Naruto up. A knowing look was shared among the three friends. On this day an unbreakable bond was forged in battle. Naruto walked over and knelt in front of Yatsuko.

"I'm sorry that you had to witness that. I never wanted you to see what ninja have to do, but I couldn't let them hurt you."

Yatsuko started to cry as she grabbed on the Naruto and buried her face in his shoulder. Tenma watched from the carriage as he started to form a newfound respect for these kids….no, these Konoha shinobi, who have saved his, and his daughters lives.

…

Chiaki, Kimiko, Choukichi, and Fumitaka stood at each corner of the camp keeping watch. Their mission to attack the nearby village would soon begin, and the others were resting for the fight. The trees above the camp began to rustle because of the wind and leaves fell down and landed by each shinobi. Chiaki heard a strange sizzling next to her. She looked at one of the leaves and it was catching fire. As she flipped it over she saw the explosive seal.

"Shi…"

**Boom!**

…

**Thanks for reading everyone. Again sorry for the long wait, but I'm back now so expect an update soon. The Sasuke poll will last for two weeks. You will find a link on my profile. I am still looking to see if anyone would be interested in creating a cover art for this story. If so I would really appreciate it. Thanks for reading again, and please review. **


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